Researchers study impact of TBI in aging adults

Researchers in Colorado are studying the impact traumatic brain injury has on aging adults with the intent of reducing the severity of the injury and helping to give seniors a better quality of life.

“Falls are a huge public health crisis and one of the leading causes of injuries among aging adults,” Kim Gorgens is quoted as saying in a press release from the University of Denver.

Gorgens is a clinical associate professor in the   Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. “The more we can do about brain injury and reduce the severity, the greater improvement we can provide in terms of quality of life.”

Gorgens has partnered with Dan Linseman , an associate professor in the   Department of Biological Sciences, to study the impact of traumatic brain injuries ( TBI) on aging adults. The duo is able to conduct their research thanks to a pilot grant from DU’s   Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging. Together, they hope to discover the reason why it takes older adults longer to recover from concussions — and why they suffer more severe consequences than younger people.

“Our theory is that some of this difference in age-dependent recovery is actually due to oxidative stress as you age and the depletion of a critical antioxidant in the brain called glutathione,” Linseman says in the press release. “We are testing a nutritional supplement in mice that will boost levels of glutathione. We want to see if we can make them recover more like a younger mouse.”

If the pre-clinical trials are successful, they will open the door to the next phase of the project.

“This could lay the groundwork to move forward with a clinical trial to see if we can boost glutathione levels in older human patients that have TBI and see if we can enhance their recovery,” Linseman says.

Should they be able to move forward, Gorgens will run data analysis and perform clinical testing on patients. They hope to be able to take the data outside of the lab and utilize their discoveries in real-life situations.

“For this phase of the research, Gorgens and Linseman have partnered with Craig Hospital, one of the best hospitals in the country for the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord and brain injuries,” the release reads. “The best part of the Knoebel Institute is the opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration,” Gorgens says. “It brings all of these researchers from totally divergent areas together on the same project in ways that are revolutionary, innovative and completely translational.”