Wednesday, January 8, 1997
RESEARCH:
Test allows for more detailed look at brain functioningBy
Kathryn Combs
Daily Bruin Contributor
A recent discovery by the UCLA Brain Research Program could
enable doctors to better diagnose and treat patients suffering from
brain trauma.
UCLA researchers have developed an innovative way of using the
Positron Emission Topography (PET) scan to pinpoint the specific
problem and develop a better mode of recovery.
The PET scan was originally developed in the late 1970s to
measure levels of metabolic activity throughout the body.
Today, researchers at the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center are
using the PET scan to measure levels of brain activity immediately
after a head injury.
Dr. David Hovda, director of the Brain Injury Research Program
and associate professor of neurosurgery at UCLA, said that the
recent controversy surrounding head injuries sustained by athletes
such as Steve Young and Troy Aikman is something to be concerned
about.
According to Hovda, approximately 12 head injuries occur per
minute. He says that half of those injuries are due to car
accidents and a quarter are due to sports injuries, while the
remaining quarter are due to falls and assaults.
Currently, the CT scan is the standard test used to treat
patients suffering from head or brain injuries. Its shortcoming is
that it takes a picture of the brain’s structure without measuring
metabolic activity.
"The CT scan takes a picture of stagnant anatomy," Hovda said.
"The PET scan will look at the functioning brain and is a way of
getting a more detailed map of the functioning of the brain," he
added.
UCLA is currently the only institution in the United States that
uses the PET scan specifically to treat head and brain
injuries.
When someone sustains a head injury the normal equilibrium of
chemicals in the brain is disturbed. In order for the brain to
function normally, this balance must be restored.
"The big discovery is that what we were seeing here is the
cellular response to brain injury," said Hovda.
"This is significant because it gives us a better picture of
brain injury; it tells us the state of the metabolic demands of the
brain’s cells. The PET scan will tell us when the brain has
returned to its normal functioning state."
To explore the potential applications of this technology,
researchers such as Mayumi Prins, senior graduate student with the
department of neurobiology, used similar treatments on animal
subjects.
"After an injury, there is a disruption … the brain cells will
try to re-establish its normal ionic state," Prins said.
"When the patient comes in during an early phase, there is
always high activity after trauma. As time goes by, the brain will
slowly go into a depressive state. During that period of
depression, our animals have shown poor learning and poor
behavior."
Hovda said that there could be correlation between this activity
and the behavior shown by professional boxers and football players,
who sustain multiple head injuries annually. When athletes are
under constant impact, Hovda said that they exhibit what he calls
the ‘Punch drunk’ syndrome.
"We’re hoping that the PET scan can give us an idea of how long
the brain stays in this deranged state," said Hovda.
Dorothy Kozlowski, who has also done extensive research on brain
injury in animal subjects, said that because there are many factors
involved in the normal functioning of the brain, it is difficult to
tell if all aspects have returned to normal, especially since these
aspects of brain activity do not usually return to their normal
state simultaneously.
"(In animals) recovery can take anywhere from one week to
several months," Kozlowski said. "It’s very difficult to give one
estimate or time frame."
Doctors advise anyone with brain trauma to be more careful and
to think twice before returning to normal activity, for the
consequences of further trauma could be permanent.