A researcher from the University of Texas at Arlington has received a Naval Research Office (ONR) grant to study the ways in which explosion-like events cause brain damage.
Ashfaq Adnan, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has received a three-year, $ 944,845 grant to study the possible link between explosion-like trauma and brain cell damage and tightness. Using ultra-fast cameras to capture dynamic events within a symbolic brain, it will be able to monitor fast acceleration and oscillations to study what happens during such events.
Previous research has suggested that trauma-like cavitation bursts, or forms bubbles, and has great potential to damage brain cells, with some studies showing their presence within true head models. Adnan wants to monitor the whole process of bubble formation, evolution and collapse to see how it affects brain cells.
“This study will provide us with a unique opportunity to see bubble formation in real-life situations and link to our previous research to help us understand how to prevent traumatic brain injury,” said Adnan. in understanding the pathways that cause brain injury, we will have more ways to examine the mechanisms of damage and apply our decisions for prevention and treatment.
“I would particularly like to thank ONR and Timothy Bentley, program manager and sub-program of the Force Health Protection Program, for supporting our research,” said Adnan.
It will also examine the broader configurations of the brain, particularly related to glial cells, which are found next to neuronal cells and contain elements that are essential for neuronal cells to function. Adnan suspects that glial cells act as a shield against trauma to neuronal cells.
Dr. Adnan’s work continues to grow and provides a vital insight into the mechanisms underlying traumatic brain injury. His leadership and professionalism have added much to the shared experience in this area, and I look forward to the positive results of this milestone. “
Erian Armanios, Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace, University of Texas at Arlington
Adnan purchased the high-speed cameras for the study with a grant from the Defense University Research Instrument Program. He has two other ONR grants and a $ 1.98 million National Institutes of Health sub-award to support his research related to traumatic brain injury. His previous research has shown that, in certain situations, mechanical forces of explosion-like events can damage the perineuronal network adjacent to neurons, which in turn can damage the neurons themselves.
He and his team imagined a shock cavitation drop by a wave inside the perineuronal net, which is a special extracellular matrix that stabilizes synapses in the brain. The team focused on the damage in hyalurons, which are a major structural part of the net, and showed that the local supersonic forces created by irregular bubble collapse could break.
Source:
University of Texas at Arlington