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1500 BCE
1500 BCE
Edwin Smith Papyrus proves brain injuries were studied in Ancient Egypt. The document details relationships to brain injury and other parts of the body, including the possibility of paralysis. -
1848
Phineas Gage survives an iron bar pierced through his head. Potentially the first case to prove the connection between brain injuries and changes in personalities & abilities. Found work as a travelling living museum exhibit and then as a stage coach worker before dying at age 36 after serious epilieptic seizures had started to regularly occur. -
1914-1918
WWI: Many soldiers incur brain injuries, giving scientists a wide range of subjects to study, increasing knowledge of the various brain functions . Rehabilitation centers were opened specifically for this and improvements in care/rehabilitation were made. Survival rate for TBI increases. -
1950s
"Modern Era" of head injury begins with the intracranial pressure monitoring. This tests the amount of pressure in the head using a small probe inserted into the skull. -
1970s
Increased awareness of TBI continues, including the knowledge of primary (from initial moment of injury) and secondary (indirect result of the injury) brain injury. -
1990s
"Decade of the Brain" - many advances in TBI are made, including new neural imaging capabilities, and survival rates dramatically increase. -
1990
IDEA recognizes TBI as its own category granting students eligibility for special education and related services. -
early 2000s
Concussions from sports and its long term effects starts to be taken seriously. -
2003 onward
Many soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan receive injuries due to the force from explosions. Injuries are similar to a physical blow to the head and give even more awareness to the effects of TBI.
