Study Finds Relationship between Brain Recovery and Sleep Quality

Pediatric neurologist Dr. Yasser Awaad functions as a medical education and program development consultant at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Over the course of his career, Dr. Yasser Awaad has also maintained membership with the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

A recent study published in the AAN’s medical journal shows a direct correlation between recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-TBI sleep quality.

Researchers observed 30 individuals, ages 17 to 58, throughout the course of the study. Each participant was hospitalized with a TBI for 45 days on average, but researchers only gathered data from the study after 21 days of hospitalization in order to allow some recovery to occur, as they were measuring the relationship of injury recovery and sleep patterns.

Relying on the Rancho Los Amigos scale and wrist-worn activity monitors, researchers gathered data from participants for an average of 11 days. Through their research, they discovered a linear relationship between the extent of TBI recovery and the improvement of the individual’s ability to return to regular sleep/wake patterns.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Quebec Health Research Fund provided funding for the study.