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Neuronal and glial changes in the brain resulting from explosive blast in an experimental model

Overview of attention for article published in Acta Neuropathologica Communications, November 2016
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (85th percentile)
  • Average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source

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1 news outlet
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Citations

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33 Mendeley
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Title
Neuronal and glial changes in the brain resulting from explosive blast in an experimental model
Published in
Acta Neuropathologica Communications, November 2016
DOI 10.1186/s40478-016-0395-3
Pubmed ID
Authors

James A. Goodrich, Jung H. Kim, Robert Situ, Wesley Taylor, Ted Westmoreland, Fu Du, Steven Parks, Geoffrey Ling, Jung Y. Hwang, Amedeo Rapuano, Faris A. Bandak, Nihal C. de Lanerolle

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is the signature injury in warfighters exposed to explosive blasts. The pathology underlying mTBI is poorly understood, as this condition is rarely fatal and thus postmortem brains are difficult to obtain for neuropathological studies. Here we report on studies of an experimental model with a gyrencephalic brain that is exposed to single and multiple explosive blast pressure waves. To determine injuries to the brain resulting from the primary blast, experimental conditions were controlled to eliminate any secondary or tertiary injury from blasts. We found small but significant levels of neuronal loss in the hippocampus, a brain area that is important for cognitive functions. Furthermore, neuronal loss increased with multiple blasts and the degree of neuronal injury worsened with time post-blast. This is consistent with our findings in the blast-exposed human brain based on magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging. The studies on this experimental model thus confirm what has been presumed to be the case with the warfighter, namely that exposure to multiple blasts causes increased brain injury. Additionally, as in other studies of both explosive blast as well as closed head mTBI, we found astrocyte activation. Activated microglia were also prominent in white matter tracts, particularly in animals exposed to multiple blasts and at long post-blast intervals, even though injured axons (i.e. β-APP positive) were not found in these areas. Microglial activation appears to be a delayed response, though whether they may contribute to inflammation related injury mechanism at even longer post-blast times than we tested here, remains to be explored. Petechial hemorrhages or other gross signs of vascular injury were not observed in our study. These findings confirm the development of neuropathological changes due to blast exposure. The activation of astrocytes and microglia, cell types potentially involved in inflammatory processes, suggest an important area for future study.

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The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 33 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 33 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 6 18%
Researcher 5 15%
Student > Bachelor 4 12%
Professor 3 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 2 6%
Other 5 15%
Unknown 8 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Neuroscience 11 33%
Medicine and Dentistry 6 18%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 9%
Psychology 2 6%
Engineering 2 6%
Other 0 0%
Unknown 9 27%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 10. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 December 2016.
All research outputs
#2,955,410
of 22,903,988 outputs
Outputs from Acta Neuropathologica Communications
#593
of 1,386 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#60,299
of 415,136 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Acta Neuropathologica Communications
#9
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,903,988 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 86th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,386 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 12.8. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 415,136 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.