UBC breaks ground on new brain health research centre
Posted October 11, 2011 4:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – UBC broke ground today on a new researcher centre to study brain health.
Concussions are becoming more of an issue in the public eye, especially in the sports world due to high-profile athletes like Sidney Crosby, who’s out because of a head injury.
Researchers will be looking at 14 and 18-year-old hockey players to find out what it means to be fully recovered from a concussion.
Dr. Max Cynader says they’ll also be examining how brain injuries can disrupt blood flow, and says concussions at such a young age can affect the person’s development.
“You may not know this, but even though the brain is only two per cent of your body weight, it’s actually 25 per cent of your circulation. So, it’s easy to have circulatory problems,” he says.
Unfortunately, MRI scans can’t pick up on whether the brain has been damaged during or after a concussion.
Cynader says research at the new centre will help give them clues “to really incorporate some of the most advanced imaging technology available [by] bringing together technologies like MEG and MRI.”
He adds that too often athletes go back to playing when they lose physical symptoms of a concussion, which may actually cause more damage.
The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health is expected to open in 2013 at UBC Hospital.
