Approved Research

Understanding neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive outcomes of traumatic brain injury

Lay summary

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain which can be caused by different traumas such as road traffic accidents, falls and violence. TBI can cause a wide range of symptoms, including physical problems such as headaches, cognitive problems such as memory and concentration difficulties, and psychological problems such as depression and anxiety. These symptoms can have a negative impact on a person's life as well as those around them. 

Despite the importance of improving the after-effects of TBI, it is still not properly understood how different types of mental health and cognitive problems can occur over time in large numbers of people after their injury. There are a number of factors which may contribute to poor mental health/cognitive problems following TBI, such as the person's age and gender, which are not currently established. In addition, more research is needed to understand why TBI, mental health and cognition are linked - for example, it is not clear whether TBI may cause structural damage to the brain which in turn increases a person's risk of developing mental health and cognitive problems.

The aim of this 36-month project is to explore whether participants in the UK Biobank study who have experienced a TBI also have higher levels of mental health and cognitive problems, and understand whether there are any factors influencing the link between TBI and these symptoms. The project will then analyse brain imaging data to explore whether there are any differences in brain structure that might explain why people who have experienced a TBI may be more likely to have mental health/cognitive problems. The advantage of UK Biobank is that it is a largescale study that includes many participants, so this analysing data will allow us to identify trends and patterns that may not be possible to see with smaller datasets. This is especially useful for our project, as there are not many other datasets available of this size that include information on TBI.

This project will improve our understanding of the links between TBI, mental health and cognition, and brain structure. This will help to guide future research in the field, and improve care & recovery for individuals who have experienced TBI as well as their family and friends.