ABQ Times

With about 214,110 traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and over 69,000 TBI-related deaths in 2021 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), understanding the physical and mental consequences of TBI is critical for study.

UNM Department of Psychology Assistant Professor Jeremy Hogeveen is analyzing this in a new Stage 2 Registered Report published in Brain Communications. The study—reported in a manuscript titled "Neural response to monetary incentives in acquired adolescent depression after mild traumatic brain injury"—is structured differently than a regular study. As a Registered Report, Hogeveen and his team had already received acceptance on the topic and study design for this project no matter the outcome.

“Registered reports like this are a nice option where the whole peer review team and the editor know it is an important question and a rigorous study design ahead of time. No matter what happens with it, by accepting the initial Stage 1 Registered Report they agree it will be worth publishing the results in Stage 2 whether or not there is a big effect. That's what we did here. In this study, the specific question that we were going after is related to traumatic brain injury, and consequences related to psychiatric symptoms, in particular, depression,” Hogeveen said.

The results his team found are quite imperative to how minor TBIs are approached in youth.

“With TBI, you can sometimes have changes in depression or mood– which can often linger well after the brain injury event. One thing that we've noticed in that field is most of the time when there's a finding relating some brain injury to some psychiatric symptom, it’s depression. This is well-documented in adults after a TBI, but there is less data available on whether or not depression occurs after a TBI in childhood or adolescence,” Hogeveen said.

As a cognitive neuroscientist and father, Hogeveen understands the concern parents have for the possibility of irreversible damage to the brain as kids turn into teens and teens turn into adults.

“Generally speaking, the reporting of these findings in the field is scary. There are NFL players who played football for much of their lifespan and then had their brains donated to science because their families knew something was not quite right after their injuries. There is plenty to see in these samples for potential post-injury depression, and a high number of these cases find evidence for CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) post-mortem.” – Assistant Professor Jeremy Hogeveen

In this new report, Hogeveen and colleagues took advantage of an ongoing NIH-funded study called the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. This large-scale study began between 2016 and 2018, enrolling over 10,000 children aged 9-10 for initial brain scans and neuropsychological assessments. These participants will continue to undergo follow-up assessments and brain scans every two years until they are 18-19 years old, with data collection concluding in 2027.

The nature of the ABCD study allows researchers like Hogeveen to track participants over time. They identified individuals who had not experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) at their initial assessment but suffered a TBI between subsequent study visits. By comparing depression scores before and after the injury, researchers could determine if the TBI led to increased depression. Additionally, the large participant pool ensures finding a well-matched comparison group of individuals who did not experience a TBI strengthens conclusions about impact.

“In most of the highly-reported TBI findings in the field, the study samples may be enriched to include a higher percentage of people that had significant consequences of their injuries. In other words, individuals who are experiencing post-concussion symptoms—or their families—might be more likely to sign up for a TBI study than individuals who hit their head and went about their life and didn't notice it again,” Hogeveen said.

In contrast, in this pre-registered prospective analysis, Hogeveen identified 43 ABCD participants with no prior history of brain injury at baseline but experienced mild TBI (mTBI; typically involving loss of consciousness lasting <30 minutes) three-to-24 months prior to follow-up ABCD visits. A control group consisting also of 43 demographically matched participants without mTBI history showed identical levels of cognitive functioning and depression at baseline.

Surprisingly neither group demonstrated any changes in depression between baseline follow-up visits suggesting no clear evidence for post-injury adolescent mTBI-induced depression while general cognitive functioning remained consistent across tasks probing attention memory cognitive flexibility albeit slightly lower recent-injury cases noted higher impairment scores indicating severity effects still present among them

At this stage cautiousness remains emphasized pointing towards severe youth adult implications potentially differing significantly from current findings observed solely within early-adolescent demographic analyzed thus far warranting further examination larger-scope analyses ensuring comprehensive coverage insights gathered addressing broader range scenarios including older age groups whose neural plasticity resilience levels might influence outcomes considerably

“This is one biggest null effects I’ve observed my career researcher comes cognitive/depression differences across groups lot parents equating major findings actions registering kid sport” he continued adding “I don't think necessarily need go far thought could help reduce anxiety parent community This doesn't mean 'don't wear helmet' 'don't worry about injuries' though.”

Ultimately revealing mild youth-generated/exacerbated-depression absent indicates more extensive future exploration required affirm established trends highlighting significant importance ensuring preventative measures maintained whilst simultaneously addressing prevailing misconceptions surrounding single-event incidents particularly concerning minor magnitude occurrences commonly encountered younger populations characterized higher neuroplasticity rapid recovery rates comparative adulthood counterparts

“We found subtle functional MRI changes brains kids pretty clearly unrelated excitement encouragement bringing adolescents without history examining pre-post should expect shifts scores” emphasized further reinforcing ongoing necessity comprehensive studies corroborating existing knowledge contributing informed decision-making process amongst stakeholders involved healthcare educational sectors alike safeguarding welfare developmental trajectory respective charges entrusted care

“That's major public health finding: yes wear helmet avoid getting injured having single necessarily same mood/depression thought could,” concluded reiterating essentiality balanced approach risk management alongside continued vigilance monitoring progress mitigating adverse impacts stemming inadvertent accidents especially those affecting vulnerable segments society requiring dedicated support frameworks promoting overall well-being holistic development long-term sustainability individual collective contexts involved