On February 28, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel held a hearing about traumatic brain injury from repeated blast exposure for U.S. service members. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Chairwoman of the subpanel, led the two-hour hearing in which senators questioned experts. Senator Warren said, “We need to do better for our troops, and we need to do it right now.”

In a recent New York Times report, Dave Phillips brought attention to abundant evidence indicating that brain injuries and “serious and lasting harm” in veterans are related to their exposure to repetitive blasts from weapons used in training.

A study found that active duty service members with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and PTSD had similarly lower levels of resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) in regions associated with working memory compared to service members with an orthopedic injury.

Service members and veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (including concussion) and struggling with symptoms of depression may want to participate in a clinical trial of a cognitive behavioral app designed specifically for the military community.

Some clinics in the Defense Intrepid Network for TBI and Brain health, a system of 13 clinics for TBIs, have integrated nutrition plans into treatment programs for “active duty service members diagnosed with mild-to-moderate TBI and associated health conditions.”