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Review
. 2017 Aug 22;2(3):CNC44.
doi: 10.2217/cnc-2017-0008. eCollection 2017 Nov.

Feasibility of using normobaric hypoxic stress in mTBI research

Patrick M Regan  1   2   1   2 , Joseph Bleiberg  1   1 , Paul St Onge  3   2   3   2 , Leonard Temme  3   3
Affiliations
Review

Feasibility of using normobaric hypoxic stress in mTBI research

Patrick M Regan et al. Concussion. .

Abstract

Studies of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) recovery generally assess patients in unstressed conditions that permit compensation for impairments through increased effort expenditure. This possibility may explain why a subgroup of individuals report persistent mTBI symptoms yet perform normally on objective assessment. Accordingly, the development and utilization of stress paradigms may be effective for enhancing the sensitivity of mTBI assessment. Previous studies, discussed here, indirectly but plausibly support the use of normobaric hypoxia as a stressor in uncovering latent mTBI symptoms due to the overlapping symptomatology induced by both normobaric hypoxia and mTBI. Limited studies by our group and others further support this plausibility through proof-of-concept demonstrations that hypoxia reversibly induces disproportionately severe impairments of oculomotor, pupillometric, cognitive and autonomic function in mTBI individuals.

Keywords: concussion; hypoxia; mTBI assessment; mild traumatic brain injury; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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