Methods and systems for identifying non-penetrating brain injuries

A method of identifying non-penetrating brain injury in a subject, the method comprising:

• (a) analyzing one or more components of the subject's brain response to an acoustic stimulus, wherein the acoustic stimulus is comprised of a complex sound, and the complex sound comprises a consonant, a consonant-to-vowel transition, and optionally a vowel;
• and
• (b) generating an indication of non-penetrating brain injury in the subject by identifying the subject as having a non-penetrating brain injury when a value for at least one component of the brain response is anomalous,
• wherein the components are selected from the group consisting of fundamental frequency (F0), neural timing of a sustained response peak, response amplitude over a time window that comprises some or all of the consonant-to-vowel transition, and stimulus-response correlation over a time window that encompasses some or all of the consonant-to-vowel transition.

A method for classifying a subject that received a hit to the body that transmitted an impulsive force to the brain, the method comprising:

• (a) administering to the subject an acoustic stimulus, wherein the acoustic stimulus is comprised of a complex sound, and the complex sound comprises a consonant, a consonant-to-vowel transition, and optionally a vowel;
• (b) recording with electrodes fitted to the subject, voltage potentials from the subject's brain for at least the duration of the acoustic stimulus;
• (c) analyzing the voltage potentials to determine one or more components of the brain response;
• and
• (d) generating an indication that the subject received a hit to the body that transmitted an impulsive force to the brain by classifying the subject as having a non-penetrating brain injury when a value for at least one component of the brain response is anomalous;
• wherein the components are selected from the group consisting of fundamental frequency (F0), neural timing of a sustained response peak, response amplitude over a time window that comprises some or all of a consonant-to-vowel transition, and stimulus-response correlation over a time window that encompasses some or all of a consonant-to-vowel transition.

A method for classifying a subject that received a hit to the body that transmitted an impulsive force to the brain, the method comprising:

• (a) analyzing one or more components of the subject's brain response to an acoustic stimulus, wherein the acoustic stimulus is comprised of a complex sound, and the complex sound comprises a consonant, a consonant-to-vowel transition, and optionally a vowel;
• and
• (b) generating an indication that the subject received a hit to the body that transmitted an impulsive force to the brain by classifying the subject as having a non-penetrating brain injury when a value for at least one component of the brain response is anomalous,
• wherein the component(s) is selected from the group consisting of fundamental frequency (F0), neural timing of a sustained response peak, response amplitude over the consonant-to-vowel transition, and stimulus-response correlation over a time window that encompasses the consonant-to-vowel transition.

A method for assessing a subject's recovery from a non-penetrating brain injury, the method comprising:

• (a) testing the subject's brain response to an acoustic stimulus by:
• (i) administering to the subject an acoustic stimulus, wherein the acoustic stimulus is comprised of a complex sound, and the complex sound comprises a consonant, a consonant-to-vowel transition, and optionally a vowel;
• (ii) recording using electrodes fitted to the subject, voltage potentials from the subject's brain for at least the duration of the acoustic stimulus;
• (iii) analyzing the voltage potentials to determine one or more components of the subject's brain response to the acoustic stimulus;
• and
• (iv) identifying a value for at least one component of the brain response that is anomalous;
• wherein the components are selected from the group consisting of fundamental frequency (F0), neural timing of a sustained response peak, response amplitude over a time window that comprises some or all of the consonant-to-vowel transition, and stimulus-response correlation over a time window that encompasses some or all of the consonant-to-vowel transition;
• (b) re-testing the subject's brain response to the acoustic stimulus at a later time by repeating steps a(i) to a(iii), and identifying the value for the one or more components that were anomalous in step (a)(iv) (“the re-test value”);
• and
• (c) calculating the difference between the re-test value and the anomalous value;
• wherein the subject is determined to be recovering from the non-penetrating brain injury when there is a change in the re-test value that is greater than would be expected by chance, and a direction of the change indicates an improvement in the component of the brain response;
• and
• wherein the subject is determined to not be recovering from the non-penetrating brain injury when (a) there is not a change in the re-test value that is greater than would be expected by chance, and the direction of the change indicates an improvement in the component of the brain response, or (b) when there is a change in the re-test value that is greater than would be expected by chance, and the direction of the change indicates a deterioration in the component of the brain response.