Head trauma and dementia
Katrin Rauen, Consultant in Neurology, Psychiatry & Psychotherapy - Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Switzerland
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the most relevant external risk factor for dementia and the current classification into mild, moderate, or severe TBI often misrepresents the patient’s neuropsychiatric long-term outcome. Half of patients with a normal routine brain scans complain of functional deficits, and more than 15% of patients suffer from cognitive dysfunction at 12 months after a so-called mild TBI. Thus, our overarching goal is to identify patients at risk of an unfavorable TBI outcome early. Here, we give insights in the following topics for clinicians and neuroscientist in the field of Neurotrauma:
- TBI epidemiology and the lifetime risk of dementia
- TBI outcome trajectories and viewing TBI as a chronic neurodegenerative disease
- Neuropathology after a single TBI or repetitive concussions
- TBI injury patterns and the relevance of the prefrontal cortex
- Cognitive dysfunction after a single mild or repetitive TBI (concussions)
- Clinical assessments to identify TBI patients at risk of an unfavorable outcome early
- Current knowledge on fluid biomarkers
- State-of-the-art neuroimaging and advanced imaging techniques after TBI
- Perspectives on cognitive neurorehabilitation after TBI
Short Bio
Katrin Rauen, MD, FEBN Consultant in Neurology, Psychiatry & Psychotherapy
- Group leader: Traumatic Encephalopathy & Neuropsychiatric Rehabilitation Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Switzerland
- Visiting consultant, Sleep Medicine Center, Departmentof Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Visiting scientist, Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU), Munich, Germany
Katrin Rauen is a Fellow of the European Board of Neurology (FEBN) and consultant in Neurology, Psychiatry & Psychotherapy—holding a dual affiliation to the Universities of Zurich and Munich. Being supported by the Betty & David Koetser Foundation for Brain Research, she is striving to better understand the link between post-traumatic neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration over the lifespan. Her clinical and scientific focus are the neuropsychiatric long-term sequels after brain injuries with a special focus on age-, sex-and gender-relevant factors that led her to develop a new diagnostic algorithm by using clinical, fluid, and multimodal imaging biomarkers for personalized medicine, thereby providing best medical practice and quality of life for patients and their relatives.
Dr. Rauen received her M.D. in 2011 from Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU), Munich, Germany, and gained international experience at the Queens Square Institute of Neurology, UCL London, England, at the Kaiser Permanente Rehab Center, Vallejo, California, USA, and at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Her doctoral thesis “Influence of vasopressin receptors and aquaporins on secondary brain injury following experimental TBI” at Prof. Plesnila ́s laboratory at LMU Munich was honored summa cum laude in 2014.
Dr. Rauen received honors and awards from national and international societies such as the German Society of Neurology, the German Society of Neurosurgery, the German Society of Neuroscience, the European Academy of Neurology, the European BrainInjury Consortium, and the International Neurotrauma Society. She is part of the ERA-Net Neuron CnsAflame TBI consortium on neuroinflammatory mechanisms following TBI, member of the management groups “Neurotrauma” and “Neurorehabilitation” of the European Academy of Neurology, head of the Outcome Section of the European Neurotrauma Organization and member of the advisory board of the Women ́s Brain Project. As a leading Neurotrauma expert with a profound background in basic and clinical brain research, she advances scientific and clinical careers of young scientists and medical doctors in neuropsychiatric brain research and clinical practice.
