On Saturday, a team of scientists reported a glimmer of hope. Using an implant that stimulates activity in key areas of the brain, they restored near-normal levels of brain function to a middle-aged woman who was severely injured in a car crash 18 years ago.
Experts said the woman was a test case, and that it was far from clear whether the procedure would prompt improvements for others like her. That group includes an estimated 3 million to 5 million people, many of them veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with disabilities related to traumatic brain injuries.
The woman, now in her early 40s, was a student when the crash occurred. She soon recovered sufficiently to live independently. But she suffered from persistent fatigue and could not read or concentrate for long, leaving her unable to hold a competitive job, socialize much or resume her studies.
She and her family asked to remain anonymous.
“Her life has changed,” said Dr. Nicholas Schiff, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine and a member of the study team. “She is much less fatigued, and she’s now reading novels. The next patient might not do as well. But we want to keep going to see what happens.”
A lack of research funding and interest has made that difficult, he added. “We’ve not been able to do so because there’s an incredible drag on doing anything for this population,” he said
The woman improved gradually, and by three months was consistently scoring about 15% better than she had previously on standardized tests of attention, planning and executive function. She also reported 70% less fatigue on a standard measure, and no longer took daily afternoon naps, as she had before, the researchers reported.
About 1 in 5 people with similar injuries receive some continuing treatment. This often includes cognitive therapy — typically, computer-based training for attention and memory, an hour a week for 12 weeks — and many see gradual improvements. But that therapy is not easy to access, and insurers don’t always pay for it.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.