Traumatic brain injury and sleep in military and veteran populations: A literature review

Jeremy Landvater, Sharon Kim, Keenan Caswell, Caroline Kwon, Emamoke Odafe, Grace Roe, Ananya Tripathi, Christian Vukovics, Jonathan Wang, Keith Ryan, Victoria Cocozza, Matthew Brock, Zahari Tchopev, Brionn Tonkin, Vincent Capaldi, Jacob Collen, Jennifer Creamer, Muna Irfan, Emerson M. Wickwire, Scott WilliamsJ. Kent Werner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a hallmark of wartime injury and is related to numerous sleep wake disorders (SWD), which persist long term in veterans. Current knowledge gaps in pathophysiology have hindered advances in diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE: We reviewed TBI SWD pathophysiology, comorbidities, diagnosis and treatment that have emerged over the past two decades. METHODS: We conducted a literature review of English language publications evaluating sleep disorders (obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, hypersomnia, parasomnias, restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder) and TBI published since 2000. We excluded studies that were not specifically evaluating TBI populations. RESULTS: Highlighted areas of interest and knowledge gaps were identified in TBI pathophysiology and mechanisms of sleep disruption, a comparison of TBI SWD and post-traumatic stress disorder SWD. The role of TBI and glymphatic biomarkers and management strategies for TBI SWD will also be discussed. CONCLUSION: Our understanding of the pathophysiologic underpinnings of TBI and sleep health, particularly at the basic science level, is limited. Developing an understanding of biomarkers, neuroimaging, and mixed-methods research in comorbid TBI SWD holds the greatest promise to advance our ability to diagnose and monitor response to therapy in this vulnerable population.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)245-270
Number of pages26
JournalNeuroRehabilitation
Volume55
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Nov 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Traumatic brain injury
  • military
  • neuroinflammation
  • post traumatic stress disorder
  • sleep
  • sleep wake disorder
  • veteran

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