Objectively measuring the neurocognitive effects of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and tracking recovery are issues of major clinical, social and economic significance. Patients, medical specialists, and third party insurers all have compelling interests in determining to what extent an MTBI has affected cognition and how the ill effects resolve over time. Current means of assessing the cognitive effects of MTBI are laborious. Imprecise, and/or somewhat subjective. We therefore propose to develop an automated neurophysiological and behavioral test, the System to Assess Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (SAMTBI), to efficiently and objectively measure the neurocognitive effects of MTBI. Prior work demonstrates that combinations of EEG, ERP, and performance data are sensitive, specific and stable indicators of cognitive ability, alertness, focused attention and """"""""memory."""""""" Phase I feasibility will be determined by finding significant differences in these measures between MTBI patients recorded immediately after and one-month post-trauma, and similar data from a matched control group. If feasibility is demonstrated, the system would be designed, implemented, and tested during Phase II.
The proposed system would serve as an enabling technology with which neurologists, neurosurgeons and other concerned medical specialists could objectively monitor the cognitive effects of MTBI. Given the prevalence of MTBI and its serious personal, social and economic consequences, there is a large potential market for such a device.
