Tau and Beta-Amyloid Deposition, Micro Hemorrhage and Brain Function after Traumatic Brain Injury in War Veterans

Abstract

Studies suggest an increased risk of Alzheimers disease (AD) after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, this is largely based on retrospective reports and clinical diagnosis without biomarker confirmation. The development of brain imaging techniques for in-vivo examination of tau, amyloid and structural integrity now allows study of the chronic effects of TBI and its relationship to AD. Specific Aims: 1.To determine if Vietnam War veterans with TBI are more likely to have positive AD biomarkers such as beta-amyloid or tau deposition on PET scans than veteran controls. 2.To determine the relationship between the severity, location and timing of TBI to the extent of positive markers for tau and beta-amyloid. 3.To establish a cohort for long-term study to confirm prognostic significance. Study Design: A case control longitudinal study of the pathological and neurodegenerative effects of TBI in Australian veterans of the Vietnam war. Persons with an existing diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia were excluded. Over 3 years, 40 veterans with TBI (68.02.5 yrs), 55 with PTSD (69.52.6 yrs) and 32 with no history of TBI or PTSD (70.15.3 yrs) were recruited into the study. The TBI cohort included 15 mild, 16 moderate, and 9 severe TBI. The majority of TBI were due to contact sport or motor vehicle accidents during the time of active military service. After adjustment for identified covariates, veterans with moderate-to-severe TBI performed significantly worse than controls on composite measures of memory and learning (M = -0.55+-0.69, t(67) = 2.86, p=0.006, d=0.70) and attention and processing speed (M = -0.71+-1.08, t(52) = 2.53, p=0.014, d=0.69). There were no differences in cognitive performance between veterans with mild TBI and controls. Veterans with PTSD did not show significant cognitive deficits after correction for covariates.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2017
Accession Number
AD1063050

Entities

People

  • Christopher C Rowe
  • Tia Cummins

Organizations

  • University of Melbourne

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alzheimer Disease
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Brain
  • Brain Injuries
  • Cognitive Impairment
  • Dementia
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Health Services
  • Imaging Techniques
  • Medical Personnel
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Neuroimaging
  • Parkinson'S Disease
  • Students
  • Traumatic Stress Disorder

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