Sci­en­tific Amer­i­can looks at some new research being con­ducted to aid cog­ni­tive recov­ery in vic­tims of severe trau­matic brain injuries (TBI).

It appears that some of the great­est ben­e­fits will come from improve­ments in low-tech quick-response treatments.

“We’re not bad at get­ting peo­ple to sur­vive [severe TBI], but we’re worse at get­ting good cog­ni­tive recovery.”

The best hope for improved heal­ing lies nei­ther in new med­ica­tions, which have been dis­ap­point­ing so far, nor in exotic fixes involv­ing stem cells and neural regen­er­a­tion, which are at least a decade away.

The biggest gains in cog­ni­tive recov­ery will likely result from advances in emer­gency room and inten­sive care prac­tices such as slow­ing the brain’s metab­o­lism by cool­ing the body, remov­ing part of the skull to relieve intracra­nial pres­sure and inject­ing an exper­i­men­tal poly­mer “glue” to repair dam­aged brain cells.

via Mind Hacks