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Brain Structure and Post Traumatic Brain Injury Essay examples

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Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have been shown to have a great impact on several specific structures in the brain of both immediate and long-term damage. Often preoccupation can be focused into the immediate outcomes. The immediate concerns of TBI are without doubt important but this often creates ignorance in terms of the long-term consequences that may follow an individual impacted by TBI into subsequent years. As one will come to recognize, this is of particular concern in terms of children who survive TBI. It was once believed that due to development, children were less vulnerable to TBI in comparison to mature, adult brains but research of childhood TBI has found this conjecture to be false (Beauchamp et al., 2011). As discussed in …show more content…

At a time when brain development is crucial, it can be argued that, based on reported damage to developing structures of the pediatric brain, disruptions of development and long-term cognitive, psychological and social implications could arise as a consequence of TBI. Nonetheless, prior to an intricate look at the impact on specific brain structures, it is important to understand a TBI, the levels of severity and the immediate implications on a neurological level. The most typical TBI is that of a closed head injury in which no penetration of the skull or brain occurs (Roberts, 2009). Still, impact to the head results in the skull usually hitting a surface as a result of incidents such as falls, accident, sports, assault or abuse (Roberts, 2009). Once a TBI has occurred, a classification of the injuries severity is assessed based on the immediate presentation of symptoms (Roberts, 2009). Mild, moderate and severe classifications are determined based on the presentation (or lack their of) of symptoms such as consciousness and functioning of mental and or sensory process (Roberts, 2009). At the level of the neuron, TBI can cause critical problems. In cases where brain tissue stretches or is sheared, the axon of a neuron becomes weakened due to the stretching, which can result in the

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