Before they leave for Iraq, thousands of troops with the 101st Airborne Division line up at laptop computers to take a test: basic math, matching numbers and symbols, and identifying patterns. They press a button quickly to measure response time.
It is all part of a fledgling army program that records how soldiers' brains work when healthy, giving doctors baseline data to help diagnose and treat the soldiers if they suffer a traumatic brain injury -- the signature injury of the Iraq war.
"This allows the army to be much more proactive," said Lieutenant Colonel Mark McGrail, division surgeon for the 101st. "We don't want to wait until the soldier is getting out of the army to say, `But I've had these symptoms.'"
The mandatory brain-function tests are starting with the 101st at Fort Campbell and are expected to spread to other military bases in the next couple of months. Commanders at each base will decide whether to adopt the program.
The tests provide a standard, objective measurement for each soldier's reaction time, their short-term memory and other cognitive skills. That data would be used when the soldiers come home to identify mild brain trauma that can often go unnoticed and untreated.
One group wants to ensure the army does not use the results to deny treatment by claiming that soldiers' problems came from pre-existing conditions.
"We certainly think these tests should not be used to reduce the responsibility that the army has to treat the soldiers who have served," said Jason Forrester, director of policy for Veterans for America.
About 7,500 Fort Campbell soldiers have completed the tests, said Robert Schlegel, a University of Oklahoma researcher who administers the 10-minute exams to soldiers as they file quickly through a testing center.
One question asks soldiers to memorize patterns on the screen and then identify them later among several different patterns. Other questions require soldiers to match numbers and symbols, or complete simple addition and subtraction problems.
"Everybody functions a bit differently in terms of how quickly they react to things, how well they process things and remember things and so forth," Schlegel said.
Brain injuries caused by explosions have become some of the most common combat wounds suffered in Iraq. Thirty percent of soldiers taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center since 2003 suffered traumatic brain injuries, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.
The brain-injury center, which has seven facilities around the country, has seen 2,669 patients between 2003 and this year. But doctors believe many less obvious brain-injury cases go undetected.
Sergeant Adam Wyatt, 22, has been close to 20 to 30 blasts from homemade bombs, rocket-propelled grenades or mortar fire during his last two deployments. But he's never been directly hit.
"The initial shock is a little disorienting," Wyatt said. "Your first thought is seeing if anyone is wounded and suppressing enemy fire."
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS