Sponsor
This material is based on work supported by the US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Natick Contracting Division, through a contract awarded to Stanford University (W911QY-14-C-0086), and a subcontract awarded to the Brain Trauma Foundation. This material is in part the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Portland Health Care System, the VA Career Development Award #IK2 BX002712, and Portland VA Research Foundation (ML). In part, the Brain Imaging and Behavior Lab that EB directs was supported by the Army Medical Research and Material Command under Award No. W81XWH-13-2-0095 (Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium).
Published In
Frontiers in Neurology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-28-2017
Subjects
Brain--Concussion, Cerebral concussion -- Pathophysiology
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been called “the most complicated disease of the most complex organ of the body” and is an increasingly high-profile public health issue. Many patients report long-term impairments following even “mild” injuries, but reliable criteria for diagnosis and prognosis are lacking. Every clinical trial for TBI treatment to date has failed to demonstrate reliable and safe improvement in outcomes, and the existing body of literature is insufficient to support the creation of a new classification system. Concussion, or mild TBI, is a highly heterogeneous phenomenon, and numerous factors interact dynamically to influence an individual’s recovery trajectory. Many of the obstacles faced in research and clinical practice related to TBI and concussion, including observed heterogeneity, arguably stem from the complexity of the condition itself. To improve understanding of this complexity, we review the current state of research through the lens provided by the interdisciplinary field of systems science, which has been increasingly applied to biomedical issues. The review was conducted iteratively, through multiple phases of literature review, expert interviews, and systems diagramming and represents the first phase in an effort to develop systems models of concussion. The primary focus of this work was to examine concepts and ways of thinking about concussion that currently impede research design and block advancements in care of TBI. Results are presented in the form of a multi-scale conceptual framework intended to synthesize knowledge across disciplines, improve research design, and provide a broader, multi-scale model for understanding concussion pathophysiology, classification, and treatment.
DOI
10.3389/fneur.2017.00513
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/22084
Citation Details
Kenzie ES, Parks EL, Bigler ED, Lim MM, Chesnutt JC and Wakeland W (2017) Concussion As a Multi-Scale Complex System: An Interdisciplinary Synthesis of Current Knowledge. Front. Neurol. 8:513. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00513
Description
Open Access
This document is protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2017.00513. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.