Damage to Axons in Traumatic Brain Injury


Microscopic damage to Axons in TBI

Microscopic damage can be caused, as part of a brain injury as a result:

When a person is in an accident and they suffer a traumatic brain injury there may be damage to axons which triggers a whole series of events in the brain. For a full explanation of how axons work and what happens to them once they have been damaged click here.  You may also want to go to our page that deals with micro inflammation by clicking here.  Both of these pages go into detail on the subjects and will explain the effects of traumatic brain injury on the axons and explain why inflammation effects the brain cells.


  • Cell Miscommunication, the axons are responsible for communication from one cell to the other.  Once they are damaged the communication may not exist or may slow down depending how much damage was done to the axon,
  • Neurotoxins :  Neurotoxins are toxins that effect the nervous system.  They will disrupt the signally between neurons and hamper communication,
  • Inflammatory Effects: Scientists have found, even though every traumatic brain injury patient is different, the underlying pathophysiology could include micro inflammation and this is an important factor and should be tested regularly even after several years of the brain injury.


“The delayed consequences of (brain injury) have only recently begun to be understood … and include neurobiological processes involving cellular dysfunction … and inflammation mediated damage.”

Ion Channels: Damage to Axons

There are a lot of technical terms here and some of this content may be hard to understand.  Unless you have some kind of background in science or medicine this may all sound “greek” to you.  By visiting the other pages mentioned above, you may get a clearer idea of how it all works.

Source:(Greenfield’s Neuropathology, © 1996, Arnold, page 197.)

NEXT: Cell Miscommunication.

by Attorney Gordon Johnson