Quantitative functional magnetic resonance imaging for the management of brain injuries

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Traumatic closed-head brain injury is a large and growing problem among otherwise healthy, often young, people in Canada. Clinical evidence shows that even concussion, TBIs mildest form, can result in disability because of the development of symptoms that last long after the injury. Conventional brain imaging methods cannot be used either to: 1) aid in determining prognosis (outcome); or 2) make return-to-duty or -play decisions. We propose to use quantitative functional MRI (qfMRI) a new, non-invasive way to study key aspects of brain physiology, to look for biomarkers of injury in concussed individuals, and examine how these markers change over time. These markers can then be used to gauge and monitor the extent of brain injury, and monitor the efficacy of treatment, with the hope of reducing long-term effects such as emotional changes, attentional difficulties, memory loss, and degenerative diseases of the brain.