Acquired brain injury & neurologicla disorders

• Brain injury


  Any type of brain damage or disorder that impairs or interferes with the normal functioning of the brain either temporarily or permanent
• Acquired brain injury (ABI)


  Any type of brain damage or disorder that occurs after birth
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)


  Type of acquired brain injury that occurs when an external force causes damage to the brain
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

  1. Blow to the head

  2. Head being forced to move rapidly forward or backward

  3. Vehicle accidents

  4. Falls

  5. Violence or physical assaults

  6. Sport accidents
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)


  • Disorders that can involve any part of the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, muscles and peripheral nervous system)
  • There are over 400 neurological disorders
• Epilepsy


  • Various types of epilepsy
  • Can be age limited, with seizures eventually stopping over time
  • All forms of epilepsy start in the brain
  • Most common symptom is seizures
• Focal seizures


  • Occurs in specific location within a specific lobe and hemisphere
  • Will affect the part of the body controlled by that specific area
• Generalised seizures


  • Occurs both brain hemispheres simultaneously
  • Affects the whole body
  • Many subtypes and affects awareness and consciousness
• Seizures with unknown onset


  • Onset of seizures is unknown
  • May be due to symptoms being uncommon or providing insufficient information
• Common symptoms


  • Onset of an aura
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Movement
• Onset of an aura

  • Subjective sensation (a strange indescribable feeling)
  • Perceptual experience (unusual smells)
  • Motor experience (tingling arms)
• Loss of consciousness


  • Loss of awareness (staring blankly into the distance)
  • Can incur amnesia (memory loss) about having the seizure
• Movement


  • Abnormal movement such as twitching
  • Loss of muscle tone and postural support (leading to a collapse)
• Causes


  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Lack of oxygen to the brain for a long period
  • Brain infection
  • Brain abnormality at birth
  • Brain tumour
  • Neurodegenerative disease
  • Genetic factors
• Lack of oxygen to the brain for a long period

  • Due to a stroke
  • Birth trauma
  • Cardiac arrest
  • Drowning
  • Drug overdose
• Brain infection


  • Meningitis
  • Encephalitis
• Brain abnormality at birth


  • Brain damage
  • During foetal development or birth
• Neurodegenerative disease


  • Alzheimer's disease
• Events that may contribute to the onset of a seizure

  • Bright, flashing or flickering lights
  • Stress
  • Missed medication
  • Low blood sugar
  • Alcohol or illicit drug use
  • Hormonal changes
  • Dehydration
  • Sleep deprivation
  • Infection or illness
• Diagnosis


  • Assessment of the brains electrical activity using EEG (electroencephalogram)
  • Brain scans using neuroimaging such as a CT or MRI
• Treatment


  • Can't be cured
  • Through can become seizure free with proper treatment
  • Anti-epileptic medication
  • Controlled diet/ sleep
  • Surgery
• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

  A progressive brain degeneration and fatal condition caused by repeated blows to the head, not necessarily concussions
• CTE


  • Often related to contact sports
  • Gets more serious the older you get
• Diagnosis and treatment of CTE


  • Can't be picked up by brain scans
  • The only way to properly diagnose CTE is through an autopsy
  • There is no cure
• Progressive brain degeneration due to repeated blows to the head
• Brain with CTE


  • Only can be seen through an autopsy
  • Slices of the brain looked under the microscope
  • Brain is rotting away (atrophy)
  • Build up of protein (tau) which interferes with the function of neurons