Is An MRI Advisable To Diagnose Trauma Due To Past Head Injuries?
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MRI should be able to distinguish.
Detailed Answer:
Hello again and thank you for the additional information.
Given the different impact points I think if structural damage is found on MRI it would be possible to distinguish between a forehead and a side hit, the areas likely to be damaged would be different. So on that regard it would be worth having having a MRI. On the other hand as I told you on my previous answer that wouldn't change anything in management, there is no medication or other type of intervention of any benefit after all these years.
As for the bipolar disorder issue, it is a very complex disorder, whose origin is still under study, involving genetic factors with alterations in several neurotransmitter levels. Head trauma is not a known causative factor, it can't be blamed about that. Increased stress levels related to the situation may exacerbate the symptoms temporarily, it may affect the patient in that sense, but can't be blamed for the disorder in general.
Let me know if I can further assist you.
What, if any, is a "normal" decline in IQ from age 13 to age 50 (assuming or not an IQ of 143 at age 13)? What would be a decrease in IQ from a violent blow to the head at 30? Thank you.
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Detailed Answer:
If by neurotransmitter levels you mean figures then there are no such figures. Weare speaking of neurotransmitter actions at a microscopic level, it is not something which can be measured through some blood test. Furthermore neurotransmitter actions depend also on the type of receptors on which they act, they may have different effects on different receptors in different parts of the brain. Say for example one neurotransmitter like serotonin has antianxiety and antidepressant effects when acting on 5HT1 receptor but cause insomnia and anxiety when acting on 5HT2 receptors. So it's a very intricate network still not well understand which will probably be the object of research for years. There are no precise levels, I can only say that studies indicate several neurotransmitters such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin to be implicated in mania and depression (which constitute bipolar disorder). The same way other traits such as eye or hair color, height etc are genetically determined, in bipolar patients there are different neurotransmitter or receptor levels leading to a predisposition for depression and mania.
As for bipolar disorder effects on IQ, in itself it shouldn't have any major effect on IQ. However depression may affect IQ tests performance (without any real IQ loss) as it may affect concentration and motivation. In addition to that in bipolar patients IQ tests may be also falsely affected by the medications which the patient is under which have the unavoidable side effect of causing some cognitive slowing. So there are no accepted figures of IQ changes with age as tests are affected by many factors.
Regarding effect of head traumas on IQ that depends on whether that trauma caused any brain lesion or not. If there was no permanent damage to brain cells, no loss of brain tissue, there is no reason why the IQ should be affected. If on the other hand there is permanent brain damage with cell loss then naturally IQ might be affected. The spectrum of consequences from head trauma is very wide from no consequence at all to severe disability or even death. Naturally your case is not the latter as you are here writing to me, but it is impossible to say whether it has cause some mild damage with IQ lowering since apart from me not knowing your IQ levels, IQ tests as I said may be influenced by your medication, depression etc, their results are not necessarily true indicators of IQ levels.
The term scar tissue is simply a comparison I made to the scar tissue formed when there is a wound on the skin. When there is a lesion (a wound) in the brain from a trauma, the dead cells are eliminated and the space previously employed by them is filled by brain connective tissue cells. If such damage is significant the changes in structure would be visible on MRI.
I hope to have been of help.
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Detailed Answer:
That depends on the site of damage. The most likely lobe to be damaged for both a side and forehead hit would be the frontal lobe. That is because it is the biggest lobe of the brain. It's involved in many functions such as motor skills (difficulty in fine movements on the opposite side), language, judgement, impulse control, difficulties in divergent thinking (generating ideas by exploring different solutions).
For a hit from the left side the most likely parts to be affected in the frontal lobe would be language and fine motor movement on the right hand. From a hit on the the most commonly affected areas would be those dealing with behavior, and impulse control.
A hit from the left side may also cause trauma to the parietal lobe with difficulties in calculation and writing as well as language issues.
For any traumatic brain lesion seizures are also a possible consequence.
My mistak, I meant a hit on the forehead.
Detailed Answer:
My apologies, there is a missing word there, the word "forehead", my mistake. It was supposed to be "From a hit on the forehead the most commonly affected areas would be those dealing with behavior, and impulse control". As I said the frontal lobe is the biggest lobe with many areas involved in different functions. So if damage to the lateral left side would be more likely to affect areas involved in language and motor control, a hit on the forehead would be more likely to affect the part dealing with behavior.
Of course all these are assumptions in case there is indeed a lesion visible on MRI, not necessarily your case, thanks to the fact the brain is well protected by the skull most hits do not cause any damage at all.
Regarding concussions or hits, I remember that when I was 30 and I was struck on the head and smashed against the wall, I felt my brain moving or bouncing inside my skull. Would you describe that as a concussion? Thank you.
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Detailed Answer:
Concussion is the most common term used for minor head trauma, an injury with a temporary impairment of brain function. Damage may be due to the direct hit but also due to sudden acceleration/deacceleration of the head. The mechanisms are not very clear but injury is thought to derive by the sudden stretching of the nerve fibers with associated electrical discharges and neurotransmitter release. That can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters and hence need some time to return to normal that is why there may be symptoms for days to weeks. In some cases symptoms may persist for months although in those cases psychological factors may be strongly at play.
Regarding the risk of concussions to cause neurodegenerative changes with dementia and parkinson like symptoms, it is true that studies have shown an increased risk of that happening in people with repeated concussions, mainly contact sports athletes. I would like to stress the fact that we are talking about many repeat concussion, your case certainly doesn't apply. Even in those athletes it is a question of increased probability of that happening, many lead normal lives.
As for the head smashing you took leading to a concussion....whether it could potentially lead to a concussion, yes it certainly could. Whether that was actually the case, that is up to you and your symptoms at the time to say. If you had loss of consciousness, persisting headaches, mental fogginess, irritability, difficulty concentrating and sleeping specifically in those days/weeks following the hit, it was most likely due to a concussion.