Research area: Clinical Sciences > Brain and Mind | Status: Active

researchers looking at brain scan

There are many different causes of brain injury including traffic accidents, sports accidents or lack of oxygen to the brain.

This page has been established to help you find out about Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) research that is currently happening on the Melbourne Children's Campus.

This page has been established to help you find out about Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) research that is currently happening on the Melbourne Children's Campus.

Current studies on acquired or traumatic brain injuries are investigating areas such as mental health outcomes, the impact of parent and child-based interventions, social function, and long-term consequences of brain injuries.

This page has been established to help you find out about Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) research that is currently happening on the Melbourne Children's Campus. Our group includes clinical researchers, service providers and educators, and aims to share up-to-date knowledge about interventions and outcomes for children and families affected by ABI.

What is a Brain Injury?

There are many causes of brain injury, including traffic accidents, sports accidents or lack of oxygen to the brain. It takes a long time to work out how serious a brain injury is. One way is to measure how long after the injury your child is in 'post-traumatic amnesia', which is the time after the injury they are confused, disorientated and have poor day-to-day memory. Each child's recovery will be different and take different lengths of time. Recovery usually continues for many years after the injury.

Causes of Brain Injury

The most common causes of brain injury in Australia are:

  • Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs because of falls, motor vehicle accidents, or sporting injuries
  • Meningitis/encephalitis (infections around the brain)
  • Cerebrovascular accidents (or strokes) which can be caused by arteriovenous malformations or cardiac complications
  • Hypoxic-ischaemic events caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. These can be due to near drowning accidents, prolonged fits or cardiac complications.
child in hospital

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