Acquired Brain Injury Research

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Pushing the boundaries of what comes next

Our Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Research Program explores how individuals regain their health, function, independence, and identity following brain injuries caused by events such as stroke or traumatic brain injury.

From uncovering the neuropsychology of the “sense of self” to evaluating the effectiveness of practical, hands-on therapies, our interdisciplinary teams work to transform outcomes for every person affected by brain injury. We strive to turn the complexity of the problem into meaningful, actionable insight.

Our research focuses on the comprehensive approach needed to support individuals as they reintegrate into their communities. Our research is integrated with patient feedback to improve outcomes across cognition, communication, mobility, mental health, spirituality, social reintegration, and return to productive activity.

Three people sit at a table in a classroom setting, engaged in conversation and smiling. Two wear red letterman jackets with a white
A woman wearing a headset sits at a desk with dual monitors. One screen shows images of eyes while the other displays data. A clock and webcam are on the wall, and various office items are scattered as she speaks into the headset.
These images represent key facets of ABI research: vocational rehabilitation strategies that support return-to-work and functional reintegration (left); advanced gaze analysis tools to provide insights into brain network dysfunction following mild traumatic injury (top right); and chaplaincy research exploring spiritual care as part of holistic recovery (bottom right). Together, these approaches reflect an evidence-driven, multidisciplinary commitment to improving outcomes for individuals with acquired brain injury.

Why Shepherd leads in ABI research

We collaborate across disciplines, including neurology, neuropsychology, physiatry, allied health, and the humanities, to investigate both science and meaning. Our advantages include:

  • Integrated clinical and research teams: ABI patients work with clinicians who help design and evaluate the studies.
  • Holistic research model: We consider body, brain, and belief, from executive function to spirituality, as vital parts of recovery.
  • Inclusive approach: Studies address underserved populations, including military service members with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).
  • Translation to practice: Findings from chaplaincy, recreational therapy, and vocational rehabilitation are implemented directly into care.

Systems and labs built for innovation

Our specific systems and facilities are the result of decades of research and development expertise, designed to support cutting-edge studies and deliver meaningful results.

Shepherd’s Georgia Model Brain Injury System (GAMBIS): Focusing on results that impact productive work/employment, financial, health, and community participation outcomes of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly for minority and underserved populations.

Georgia Model Brain Injury System

Investigating injuries ranging from sports concussion to combat blast injury, injuries in unique subpopulations such as military special operators or those with co-occurring substance use disorders, person-centered goal-directed care, rehabilitation of vestibular and cognitive functioning, and development and implementation of technology-delivered interventions.

mTBI Brain Health and Recovery Lab

The Shepherd Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor invested time and resources to understand my career development. The counselor provided guidance and tools to assist with my job search with regards to my traumatic brain injury disability.

Jason Chambers, Georgia Shepherd Center Patient and Vocational Rehabilitation Research Study Participant

Areas of breakthrough research

Our ABI research spans clinical, psychological, and social domains and is grounded in patient experience aligned with their rehabilitation goals. Key areas of study include:

Our longitudinal fMRI study on “theistic relational processing” explores how beliefs and social connections shape healing after brain injury. By understanding how brain injury alters cognition, emotion, spirituality, and identity, we can create targeted interventions that enhance and promote recovery.

eStudies on military service members with mild TBI have uncovered neuropsychological profiles that predict readiness for duty. By identifying the medical, psychological, and social factors we’re able to assess and shape long-term recovery goals and ready patients for work, community life, and self-management.

Shepherd is studying how virtual platforms support physical activity, posture retraining, and therapy adherence after injury. By evaluating the effectiveness of real-world interventions, from vocational rehabilitation to recreational therapy, we can expand what counts as “evidence-based” care.

Lab outputs

  • Johnstone, B., Cohen, D., Anderson, R., Dennison, A. C., & Bosque, L. (2025). Reconceptualizing disorders of the self as disorders of relationship. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
  • Rider, C., Thompson, A.S., Simms, J., Ratcliffe, L.N., Bosque, L., Thompson, N., & Johnstone, B. (2025). The positive long-term benefits of recreation therapy services on caregiver outcomes in brain injury rehabilitation. American Journal of Recreational Therapy. 24 (1), 19-27.
  • Johnstone, B., Smith, E., & Cohen, D. (2025). Neuropsychological Integration, a Sense of Relationship, and the Self as Unified Experience. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, acaf056.
  • Johnstone, B., Cohen, D., Thompson, N., Dennison, A., & Bosque, L. (Pending) Empirical Validation of “Selflessness” as a Neuropsychological Foundation of Spiritual Transcendence. The Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
  • Bankard, J., Yoon, D.P., Smith, E.I., Cohen, D., Bruininks, P., Edman, L., Witvliet, C.V.O., & Johnstone, B. (2023). The interaction between forgiveness and resentment on mental health outcomes. Religion, Brain, and Behavior.
  • Jones, C., Ramsey, K., Beydoun, H.A., & Johnstone, B. (2023). Neuropsychological Deficit Profiles for Service Members with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Brain Injury.
  • Cohen, D., & Johnstone, B. (2023). Evolution of the Parietal Lobe in the Formation of an Enhanced “Sense of Self”: The Neuropsychological Foundations of Socialization, Spirituality, and Prosocial Behaviors. Journal of Cognition and Culture.
  • Slaton, M. R., & Johnstone, B. (2022). Reconciling Mystical Experience with Concept of the Self:  The Poetry of an Individual with a Right Temporal Lobectomy. Journal of the Humanities in Rehabilitation.
  • Yoon, D. P., Bruininks, P., Smith, E. I., Witvliet, C. V. O., Cohen, D., Edman, L. R. O., Bankard, J., Little, K., & Johnstone, B. (2022). The relationships between positive character traits, virtues, and health. Social Work & Christianity, 49(2), 135-163.
  • Lesniak, E., Ramsey, K.G., Brady, C., Heydoun, H.A., & Johnstone, B. (2022). Predicting Military Readiness Using Objective and Subjective Indices of Neuropsychological Impairment in Service Members with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 29(5), 1152-1159.
  • Cohen, D., Bhushan, B., Hanks, R., Yoon, D.P., Johnstone, B., Holliday, G., & Grover, A. (2022). Examining cultural, ethnic, and religious differences with the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality in the US and India. Journal of Religion and Health, 61(4), 3492-3506.
  • Johnstone, B., Butt, C., Beydoun, H., Schneider, J., & Camp, B. (2022). Principal Component Analysis of the Personality Assessment Inventory in Service Members with Traumatic Brain Injury. Brain Injury. 36(1), 94–99.
  • Johnstone, B., Bruininks, P., Smith, E.I., Yoon, D.P., Cohen, D., Edman, L., Bankard, J., & Witvlet, C.O. (2021). Conceptualizing spirituality and religion as psychological processes: Validation of the factor structure of the BMMRS. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 24 (3), 316-332. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2020.1793311
  • Schneider, J. C., Hendrix-Bennett, F., Beydoun, H. A., & Johnstone, B. (2021). A retrospective study of demographic, medical, and psychological predictors of readiness in service members with mild traumatic brain injury. Military Medicine, 186(3-4), e401-e409.
  • Smith, E.I., Yoon, D.P., Bruininks, P., Witvliet, C.V.O., Cohen, D., Edman, L., Bankard, J., & Johnstone, B. (2021). Relationships between psychometrically distinct Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS) factors and mental health among U.S. college students. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 24 (2), 211-225. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2021.1871596
  • Hulett, J.M., Johnstone, B., Armer, J.M., DeRoche, C., Millspaugh, R., & Millspaugh, J. (2021). Associations between religious and spiritual variables and neuroimmune activity in survivors of breast cancer: A feasibility study. Supportive Cancer Care, 29(11), 6421-6429.
  • Johnstone, B., Cohen, D., & Dennison, A. (2021). The Integration of Sensations and Mental Experiences into a Unified Experience: A Neuropsychological Model for the “Sense of Self.” Neuropsychologia, 159, 107939.
  • Johnstone, B., Henderson, G., Tessar, A., Bayan, S., Anziano, P., Chukabarah, A., & Johnson, M. (2021). Understanding the Personal Experience of, and Societal Biases towards, Disability through the History of Art: Suggested Training for Rehabilitation Disciplines. Journal of the Humanities in Rehabilitation.
  • Johnstone, B., Kvandal, A., Winslow, R., Kilgore, J., & Guerra, M. (2020). The behavioral presentation of an individual with a disordered sense of self. Brain Injury, 34, 438-443 (doi10.1080/02699052.2020.1717622).
  • Cohen, D., Bhushan, B., Hanks, R., Yoon, D., Johnstone, B., & Hunt, I. (2020). The right parietal lobe, sense of self, and empathy: Cross-cultural, ethnic, and religious considerations. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 23, 375-397.
  • Ramanathan-Elion, D.M., Baydoun, H., & Johnstone, B. (2020). Psychological predictors of functional outcomes in service members with traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 34, 1183-1192.
  • Johnstone, B., Ramsey, K.G., & Baydoun, H.A. (2020). Comparing indices of objective and subjective neuropsychological impairments in service members with mild traumatic brain injury. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult. DOI: 10.1080/23279095/22-/1763999
  • Beydoun, H., Butt, C., Beydoun, M., Eid, S., Zonderman, A., & Johnstone, B. (2020). Two Latent Classes of Diagnostic and Treatment Procedures among Traumatic Brain Injury Inpatients. Scientific Reports, 10; 10825.

See mTBI Brain Health and Recovery Lab for additional peer reviewed papers.

  • Edens, K. (August 8, 2025). Clinical Utility of TR as Part of Rehabilitation for Spinal Cord and Brain Injury. American Psychological Association, Denver, CO.
  • Johnstone, B. (November 8, 2024). Findings of the Georgia Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. Missouri Brain Injury Association Annual Convention, St. Louis, MO.
  • Funkenbusch, K., Johnstone, B., & Cunningham, M. (March 26, 2024). Improving Vocational Outcomes for Persons with TBI. 2024 Agrability National Training Workshop. Atlanta, GA.
  • Johnstone, B. (January 27, 2024). Non-medical factors and TBI outcome. Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency.
  • Johnstone, B. (January 3, 2024). Neuropsychological evaluation of brain injury/disease: Case examples. Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency.
  • Johnstone, B. (December 20, 2023). Neuroanatomy/Neuropsychology 101. Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency.
  • Johnstone, B., & Conklin, J. (August 3, 2023). Re-conceptualizing Disorders of the Self as Disorders of Relationship: Clinical Implications. American Psychological Association. Washington D.C.
  • Johnstone, B. (June 9, 2020). Vocational Outcomes of State Vocational Rehabilitation Clients with TBI. Department of Psychology. USUHS, Washington, D.C.
  • Johnstone, B., Anziano, P., & Chukabarah, A. (October 2020). Incorporating Religious and Spiritual Resources into Rehabilitation. American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Annual Conference. Atlanta, GA (held virtually).
  • Johnstone, B., Dennison, A., & Thompson, N. (October 2020). American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Annual Conference. Atlanta, GA (held virtually).
  • Johnstone, B. (October 13, 2020). Cultural Perspectives on Neuroscience, the Self, and Character Traits (U.S, Korea) for The Wind Institute (held virtually).
  • Johnstone, B. (November 13, 2020). Religion, Spirituality, and Health. Rehabilitation Psychology Grand Rounds. Shepherd Center, Atlanta, GA.
  • Johnstone, B. (November 15, 2020). Employment following TBI: Findings from the Missouri TBI Model Systems Center. Georgia State University TBI Support Group. Atlanta, GA.

See mTBI Brain Health and Recovery Lab for additional presentations.

Headshot of Brick Johnson

Meet the ABI research team

What do art history and brain injury research have in common? For Dr. Brick Johnstone, the answer lies in seeing people beyond their diagnosis. With a career spanning 35 years, he has combined neuropsychology, rehabilitation, and the humanities to advance research on brain injury, employment, and the deeper traits that shape who we are.

By sharing their lived experience, our patients help us ask better questions, define success more holistically, and discover interventions that truly matter.

Brick Johnstone, Ph.D., ABBPP The O. Wayne Rollins Director of Brain Injury Research

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