Abstract
Changes in large-scale brain networks that accompany mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the N-back working memory task at two cognitive loads (1-back and 2-back). Thirty mTBI patients were examined during the chronic stage of injury and compared to 28 control participants. Demographics and behavioral performance were matched across groups. Due to the diffuse nature of injury, we hypothesized that there would be an imbalance in the communication between task-positive and Default Mode Network (DMN) regions in the context of effortful task execution. Specifically, a graph-theoretic measure of modularity was used to quantify the extent to which groups of brain regions tended to segregate into task-positive and DMN sub-networks. Relative to controls, mTBI patients showed reduced segregation between the DMN and task-positive networks, but increased functional connectivity within the DMN regions during the more cognitively demanding 2-back task. Together, our findings reveal that patients exhibit alterations in the communication between and within neural networks during a cognitively demanding task. These findings reveal altered processes that persist through the chronic stage of injury, highlighting the need for longitudinal research to map the neural recovery of mTBI patients.
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Abbreviations
- AFNI:
-
Analysis of Functional NeuroImages
- fMRI:
-
functional magnetic resonance imaging;
- GCS:
-
Glasgow Coma Score
- MACE:
-
Military Acute Concussion Evaluation
- MFG:
-
middle frontal gyrus
- mTBI:
-
mild traumatic brain injury
- PCC:
-
posterior cingulate cortex
- ROI:
-
region of interest
- RPQ:
-
Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire
- TBI:
-
traumatic brain injury
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Support for this work was in part provided by the Department of Defense (W81XWH-08-1-0725 & W81XWH-12-1-0098 to R.P.G). Chandler Sours was supported by the NRSA grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (1F31NS081984).
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Sours, C., Kinnison, J., Padmala, S. et al. Altered segregation between task-positive and task-negative regions in mild traumatic brain injury. Brain Imaging and Behavior 12, 697–709 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-017-9724-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-017-9724-9