Microscopic Damage to Axons

Microscopic damage to axons can be caused by:

• Cell Miscommunication,
• Neurotoxins and
• Inflammatory Effects.

"The delayed consequences of primary injury have only recently begun to be understood. These are various events that have been triggered by the primary injury and include neurobiological processes involving cellular dysfunction such as free radical formation, receptor mediated mechanisms, calcium and inflammation mediated damage."

Source:(Graham, Gennarelli, Greenfield's Neuropathology, © 1996, Arnold, page 197.)

Cell Miscommunication

A series of electrical and chemical changes developing over a period of hours, result in changes to blood flow, the metabolism and the ionic balance in the brain.

Brain cells communicate with each other both electronically and chemically. Trauma can disrupt the electrical and chemical balance, with the result that brain cells set off the wrong signals, which can damage or destroy the cell.

Neurotoxins

Trauma can also result in the release of chemicals which are toxic to brain cells.

What ability the brain cell has to protect itself from these toxins, may also be reduced by the effects the trauma had to the physical structure of the cell. Brain cells have protective coatings, much like the insulation on a wire or the paint on a car.

Micro Inflammation

Other damage is related to the inflammation of the cell, as chemicals accumulate within the cell.

Such swelling can cause an increase in pressure at the cellular level, which results in secondary brain damage.

It is not necessary to have a loss of consciousness to suffer permanent brain injury.

Source: Definition of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Developed by the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee of the Head Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. J Head Trauma Rehabil 1993:8(3):86-87

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