Light therapy might help people’s brains recover from a concussion Brains bathed in near-infrared light experienced improved connectivity between brain regions The beneficial effect was strongest during the first two weeks following a traumatic brain injury WEDNESDAY, May 29, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Near-infrared light pulsing into a person’s skull appears to boost healing in patients with a severe , a new study finds. Patients who wore a helmet emitting near-infrared light displayed a greater change in connectivity between seven different pairs of brain regions, researchers report. “The skull is quite transparent to near-infrared light,” explained co-lead researcher , a radiologist with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
“Once you put the helmet on, your whole brain is bathing in this light.” For the study, researchers tested near-infrared light therapy on 17 patients who’d suffered an injury to the head serious enough to affect their thinking or be visible on a brain scan. Patients put on the light therapy helmet within 72 hours of receiving a traumatic brain injury, and researchers used brain scans to gauge the effects of the treatment.
Another 21 patients put on the helmet but didn’t receive light therapy. The researchers focused on the brain’s resting-state function connectivity, or the communication that occurs between brain regions when a person is at rest and not engaged in a specific task. Researchers took brain scans a week after injury, tw.
