The Importance of Neuropsychology in the Military
U.S. Rep. Harry E. Mitchell today joined members of an inter-organizational Military TBI Task Force by endorsing a paper highlighting the important role that neuropsychology plays in treating combat-related traumatic brain injury.
The paper, The Role of Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology in the Evaluation, Management and Research of Military Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury, is currently in press and an executive summary will be released Nov. 13 at a press conference at the National Academy of Neuropsychology's 27th Annual Conference. The Military TBI Task Force, led by Drs. Neil Pliskin and Mike McCrea, were comprised of members from the American Psychological Association Divisions 40 (Neuropsychology) and 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology), the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, and the National Academy Neuropsychology (NAN).
"Traumatic brain injury is one of the signature injuries of the current war," said Mitchell, who has held hearings on the trouble facing troops returning from war. "Better field medicine is bringing more of our troops home alive, but they are suffering from combat-related TBI or PTSD in greater numbers than in past wars. We owe it to them to invest in this kind of research that will help improve their quality of life in the years to come."
Frequently brain injury is not detected in emergency rooms. Brain injury, especially mild brain injury, is undetected on MRI or CT. The use of neuropsychological tests are often the best and only way to diagnose and treat brain injury. It is only with hindsight of past war veteran's medical treatment that the horrifying realities thier wounds is now appreciated. Bravo to the efforts being made now to alter past mistakes.
