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Sound sleep plays a critical role in healing traumatic brain injury, a new study of military veterans suggests.
The study, published in the
Journal of Neurotrauma, used a new technique involving magnetic resonance imaging developed at Oregon Health & Science University. Researchers used MRI to evaluate the enlargement of perivascular spaces that surround blood vessels in the brain. Enlargement of these spaces occurs in aging and is associated with the development of dementia.
Among veterans in the study, those who slept poorly had more evidence of these enlarged spaces and more post-concussive symptoms. This has huge implications for the armed forces as well as civilians, said lead author Juan Piantino, M.D., MCR, assistant professor of pediatrics (neurology) in the OHSU School of Medicine and Doernbecher Children s Hospital. This study suggests sleep may play an important role in clearing waste from the brain after traumatic brain injury - and if you don t sleep ve