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Appendum pasted into front end-papers. / Bibliography: leaves xiii-xliii. / xi, 195, xliii leaves : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Traumatic brain injury (TBI) effects neuronal cell bodies (NCBs), axons and dendrites in a complex fashion, producing a spectrum of damage dependent on the initial injury and secondary effects. Accumulation of amyloid precursor (APP) in NSBs and axons is a feature of TBI. This accumulation may be due to impairment of the axonal transport of APP and/or upregulation of APP mRNA synthesis. This thesis hypothesizes that mechanical deformation, which is not severe enough to cause immediate cell death, results in increased APP mRNA and antigen expression as an acute phase response to injury. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Pathology, 1999

Thesis (Ph.D)--Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Michelle C. LaPlaca, Ph.D.; Committee Member: Andres J. Garcia, Ph.D.; Committee Member: Edward H. Pettus; Committee Member: Marc E. Levenston, Ph.D.; Committee Member: Suzanne G. Eskin, Ph.D. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

M.A. / As medical technology and procedures continue to improve, traumatically brain injured persons who previously would not have lived through their injuries are managing to survive. The traumatically brain-injured person must learn to cope with the profound physical, cognitive, emotional, and personality changes that are produced from brain trauma. Within the family system, the members reciprocally influence one another. Major events that occur within the family system have an immense effect on the family relationships, dynamics, roles, and expectations. A traumatic brain injury, with its sudden onset and the inherent uncertainty regarding recovery and rehabilitation, can have a devastating effect on the family as a whole, and upon its individual members. Research on the familial effects of a member’s traumatic brain injury portrays a bleak image of the family in the aftermath of TBI, and for years afterwards. Grief, anger, guilt, blame, loneliness, depression, and isolation are often reported in the literature. The literature focuses mainly on the primary caregiver, usually the spouse of the TBI person, or the parent of a TBI child. Limited research has been conducted regarding the psychological effects on the offspring of parents who sustain traumatic brain injuries. Surely, children and adolescents will feel the effects of a parent’s brain injury differently than a spouse would. However the actual experience as perceived by the offspring has been neglected in research thus far. Adolescents were the focus of the current study. Being in a time of transition between childhood and adulthood, it was thought that they would experience the effects of a parental brain injury differently than younger children or adults within the family would. The existential-phenomenological approach employed as the research methodology allowed for a rich, in depth understanding of the adolescents as beings-in-the-world interpreting their own experiences of having a traumatically brain-injured parent. Six adolescent offspring of traumatically brain-injured parents were sourced from Headway Gauteng, and interviewed for the study. The four interviews that were used for the intense phenomenological analysis were transcribed verbatim. Themes were derived from the experience of each participant, and then integrated and related to the relevant available literature and within the wider context of existential phenomenology, in order to arrive at an in-depth understanding of the adolescent experience of a parent’s traumatic brain injury. The phenomenon of parental traumatic brain injury in the lifeworlds of the adolescents was characterized by numerous themes. Adolescents experienced (to varying degrees) denial, anger, grief, guilt, and anxiety. There was a tendency towards overprotectiveness of the injured parent, resulting in the parentification of the adolescents. Loneliness and a sense that nobody could understand their feelings were particularly strong themes, perhaps exacerbated by the importance of conformity during the adolescent period. Furthermore, the adolescents experienced drastic changes in their lives following their parents’ traumatic brain injuries. Not only were family roles and dynamics affected, but also the adolescents reported extensive changes in themselves. There were sudden increases in their responsibilities alongside a sense that they were forced to mature sooner than their peers. The adolescents coped using both approach and avoidance styles of coping. Religion was a theme in the lives of all four adolescents. Despite the professed negative impact of the experience of having a traumatically brain-injured parent, the adolescents in the current study managed to find some degree of positive meaning in having to cope with such a traumatic event and its consequences. Professionals working with brain-injured clients and their families will find value in the present study. The in-depth description of the experience of adolescents with brain-injured parents will be helpful in planning support programmes and interventions following familial brain injuries. The findings of this study have also been the basis for recommendations for future empirical investigations.

M.A. (Psychology) / The Post Traumatic Amnesic Syndrome, which follows a mild closed head injury, seems to be a common occurrence in the field of neuropsychology. The syndrome is primarily characterised by a transient memory loss of daily events, normally commencing within days after the injury. The symptoms include absent-mindedness, an inability to remember names, dates, numbers and faces, commands and orders given at work. Due to the relatively uncomplicated nature of a mild closed head injury, the syndrome is often overlooked and underestimated in terms of its intensity and psychological damage. Patients are sent home after a brief observation period and medical staff are of the opinion that the patients will recover successfully, without experiencing much psychological or cognitive strain. It is usually thought that the syndrome does not last for more than three to four months. The aim of the research was to determine the nature of the experience of not being able to remember daily events, as part of the post traumatic amnesic syndrome. The influence of the syndrome on the patients' support persons was also investigated

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