"The purpose of the program is to fund a cooperative agreement to conduct pilot studies to investigate methods for determining the prevalence of a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an institutionalized population. For purposes of this RFA, ``institutionalized'' refers to persons who are either incarcerated or
residing in a nursing home. Research on only one of these populations should be proposed.

Anecdotal reports suggest that a very large proportion of the prison population may have experienced one or more TBIs, with many of them occurring prior to incarceration. The cognitive deficits that can result from traumatic brain injuries often are not visible, and behavioral and emotional problems associated with TBI may be attributed to other causes. Thus, prisoners with TBI as well as prison officials may not be aware of the signs, symptoms, and long term problems resulting from TBI, and therefore may not seek or provide appropriate treatment or other interventions. Better methods for identifying incarcerated persons with a history of TBI and related problems could lead to improved management of TBI in this population.

Phrenology lives on!