Soldiers who suffer mild brain injuries from blasts have long-term changes in their brains, a small new study suggests.
Diagnosing mild brain injuries caused by explosions can be challenging using standard CT or MRI scans, the researchers said. For their study, they turned to a special type of MRI called diffusion tensor imaging.
The technology was used to assess the brains of 10 American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who had been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries and a comparison group of 10 people without brain injuries. The average time since the veterans had suffered their brain injuries was a little more than four years.