Traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is more commonly known as a concussion, has been talked about a lot in the news in recent years because of how it affects professional athletes, specifically football players. Specifically, it leads to the brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). But now there is a new study that shows TBIs can also cause depression.
Initial symptoms of a concussion can include headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, and mood changes.
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The study’s authors said depression associated with traumatic brain injury is believed to be clinically distinct from primary major depressive disorder (MDD) and may be less responsive to conventional treatments. And other studies have shown that depression develops within seven years of suffering a TBI in about 66% of cases.
The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, identified a distinct brain connectivity profile in TBI-associated depression that was independent of TBI, MDD, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression severity, and cohort. TBI-associated depression was independently associated with decreased DAN–subgenual cingulate connectivity, increased DAN-DMN connectivity, and the combined effect of both.
So, the authors maintain that their results support the possibility of a physiologically distinct “TBI affective syndrome,” which may benefit from individualized neuromodulation approaches to target its distinct neural circuitry.
Shan Siddiqi, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the paper, said in a statement, “Many clinicians have suspected that this is a clinically distinct disorder with a unique pattern of symptoms and unique treatment response, including poor response to conventional antidepressants. But until now, we didn’t have clear physiological evidence to prove this.”
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain caused by a sudden force to the head or body. TBIs can range from mild concussions to severe injuries that result in coma or death.
While concussions are the most widely known, there are three main types of TBIs. For example, a focal brain injury is a TBI that affects a specific area of the brain. Symptoms of a focal brain injury can vary depending on the area of the brain that is injured.
There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for TBI. The treatment will vary depending on the severity of the injury and the individual’s symptoms. Some common treatments for TBI include rest, medication, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. In some cases, surgery may be necessary to remove a blood clot or to relieve pressure on the brain.
The prognosis for a TBI depends on the severity of the injury. Mild TBIs usually resolve within a few weeks. More severe TBIs can have long-term consequences, such as cognitive impairment, physical disabilities, and emotional problems.
