James Burch, PhD, in collaboration with William Walker, MD, LIMBIC-CENC research team, has been awarded a DOD grant,  Randomized Controlled Trial of Treatment to Optimize Heart Rate Variability in Combat Veterans and Service Members with Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms. Combat Service Members and Veterans who sustain concussion are at higher risk for having long-term symptoms such as disturbed sleep, fatigue, dizziness, irritability, and difficulty thinking. Growing evidence indicates that TBI-related hyperarousal secondary to autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction plays a key role in developing persistent post-concussion symptoms, depression, PTSD, and sleep disturbance. ANS disruption can slow recovery, increase symptom burden, and decrease function. Veterans and service members can learn to use their diaphragm to consciously control their ANS, optimize and improve Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and reduce hyperarousal. This technique, called HRV Biofeedback, is a physiologic-based, self-empowering treatment. If successful, our project will provide combat Veterans and service members suffering from TBI/PH with a clinical solution to take back control over their lives. They will be able to harmonize their brain and body, reduce PPCS, and improve their health, function and life quality. We will test HRV-Biofeedback as an effective TBI treatment by conducting a high quality randomized controlled trial. The intervention study will be available to LIMBIC-CENC research participants.