Local research unlocking mystery of mental illness in the military

Many men and women are coming home from war with brain injuries, making everyday situations like interacting with their friends and family difficult and sometimes dangerous.

There is a new study going on in Roanoke that could make it easier for veterans in the future. 

Currently, doctors use interviews to diagnose mental illness like anxiety or depression.  They ask patients questions like
-Do you have difficulty sleeping?
-Have you had significant weight gain/weight loss?
-Have you lost interest in things? 

But by taking pictures of your brain, it could make diagnosing your illness much easier and more accurate. 

Sarah Bonner is part of a study at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.  She planned on making the military a career but that changed when she was in basic training. 

In the middle of the night she fell getting down from the top of her bunk bed. 

“I went down about six feet, straight flat down, hit my lower back and the back of my head and then my left arm hit the bed next to me. I was definitely out for about thirty seconds” said Bonner. 

It changed her life forever. 

“For about a year, I would have dizziness that would come and go. I also would feel lightheaded” Bonner explained. 

She was diagnosed with a concussion and later diagnosed with depression, one of the things being researched in a study using veterans like Bonner. 

“A lot of people who are in Iraq and Afghanistan have had the same sorts of experiences but not everyone coming back has PTSD or depression. So we're trying to understand how the brain contributes either to what makes you vulnerable or what makes you resilient to stressful experiences” says Dr. Pearl Chiu, an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. 

She is overseeing the study along with Dr. Brooks King-Casas. 

“Depression and post traumatic stress often occur together but we don't understand the why or how that happens” says Dr. Chiu. 

Study participants go into an FMRI, a functional MRI. They play games simulating social situations. 

“While they're interacting back and forth, we're taking pictures of their brain every couple of seconds and with that info we can figure out which regions of the brain are more or less active depending on whether they're trying to cooperate with one another or choosing to be aggressive with one another” says Dr. King-Casas. 

Veterans also look at pictures inside the FMRI. 

“We use all sorts of positive images, negative images, negative images associated with experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. You're lying in the scanner, looking at pictures and not really doing anything, just letting your brain react to the images that you see” says Dr. Chiu. 

The doctors hope those reactions mapped out in the brain will show different types of PTSD and depression. 

“That's really exciting for us. That suggests that we can use these types of measures to predict who may get PTSD or depression but also how to better assign treatments” says Dr. Chiu. 

Treatments for people like Sarah Bonner. 

“It is frustrating, but I realize it's just another experience to say I've been through to use it was motivation to move forward” says Bonner.

And help other veterans in the process. 

For more information, visit Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute at  http://research.vtc.vt.edu/

 VTCRI recieved funding for the study from the Department of Defense, National Institute of Health and private donors.