Imagine stepping into a virtual reality environment that recreates in amazing detail the sights, sounds, and smells of a past experience, or a setting that triggers addictive behaviors, such as a bar scene with a favorite drink placed in front of a recovering alcoholic. And then into this virtual reality steps a helpful digital avatar [...]

Peter King at Sports Illustrated reported earlier today that researchers who run the NFL ‘Brain Bank’ at Boston University have requested that Junior Seau’s brain be donated for research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a serious degenerative brain disease. (The San Diego medical examiner confirmed today that Seau, 43, whose NFL career spanned 20 years, [...]

A recent research article by Dr. Bennet Omalu in the journal Neurosurgical Focus highlights a probable connection between blast-related brain injuries common in Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, and a brain disease usually associated with certain sports like boxing, American football, and hockey. This connection was first reported in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof. [...]

One of the most frustrating aspects of traumatic brain injuries, for both survivors and medical professionals, is the lack of clarity and guesswork involved with recovery and rehabilitation. Every brain injury (and brain) is literally unique; so predictions on TBI recovery and time are all over the map. Enter a research team at University of [...]

The Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco and related HealthCamp SFBay “unconference” were both forward-looking meetings on where health care will be heading in the next several years. One of the themes I want to pull out and examine in more detail is the use of virtual reality (VR) and avatars for a wide range [...]