A Community Collaboration Between IU Health and St. Vincent Health
Current Studies & Research
An internet-based evaluation system for postacute acquired brain injury

James Malec (RHI), Tom Murphy (CEO, Inventive Software Solutions, Philadelphia), John Seely and Jeff Gau (Oregon Research Institute, Eugene) Phase II STTR, funded by National Institute for Neurological Disease and… Read More

A New Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury Irritability and Aggression

Irritability and aggression are problems that greatly affect the lives of many people living with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their families. There has been little research to help guide… Read More

An Exploration of the Hypocholinergic Hypothesis of Delirium following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Jacob T. Kean, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often causes delirium (confusion and sometimes agitation) in patients recovering from these types of events. One of the neurochemical systems… Read More

Brain Injury Coping Skills Group For Improving Self-Efficacy And Adjustment In Individuals With Brain Injury And Their Caregivers

Samantha Backhaus, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)   Rehabilitation and recovery after brain injury can be delayed by distress and impaired coping among these patients and their caregivers. A pilot study conducted… Read More

Creating a structured interview to improve the reliability and psychometric integrity of the Disability Rating Scale

Flora Hammond, MD (PI; RHI/IU PM&R), James Malec (RHI/IU PM&R), John Whyte (Moss Rehabilitation, Philadelphia), Joseph Giacino (Spaulding Rehabilitation, Boston), Jerry Wright (Santa Clara Valley, San Jose) The Disability Rating… Read More

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An Exploration of the Hypocholinergic Hypothesis of Delirium following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) December 27th, 2011

Jacob T. Kean, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often causes delirium (confusion and sometimes
agitation) in patients recovering from these types of events. One of the neurochemical
systems that stabilize the brain, the acetylcholine system, often becomes unbalanced
when injuries like this occur, often worsening confusion. We suspect that some drugs that
are used with these kinds of injuries create further imbalances in this system.
Currently Dr. Jacob Kean is conducting a study to determine whether a specific class of
drugs (anticholinergic) could be aggravating this imbalance in these patients. Should
this study point to a connection between some of these drugs and the imbalance of the
acetylcholine system, it could suggest better outcomes may be achieved by limiting
the use of these drugs in patients with brain injuries, including reducing confusion and
potentially enhancing the speed of recovery.