Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Long-Term Consequences

A 2011 study (Komrad, C et al.) followed 33 individuals who had sustained a mild TBI for an average of six years versus 33 healthy controlled subjects. Comprehensive testing was done to assess cognitive and emotional functioning. The results showed that mild TBI victims had significant impairments in cognitive domains compared to the healthy controlled subjects, with the effect being described from medium to large. They noted “MTBI may lead to lasting disruption of neurofrontal circuits not detectable by standard structural MRI and needs to be taken seriously in clinical and forensic evaluation.”