A Model for Predicting Cognitive and Emotional Health from Structural and Functional Neurocircuitry Following Traumatic Brain Injury
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is one of the major health problems facing military servicemembers returning from deployments. White matter axonal damage, as measured by neuroimaging techniques like Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), is one of the hypothesized mechanisms contributing to the cognitive and affective sequalae of mTBI. Presently, many of the findings in the literature examining the association between DWI and neuropsychological outcome are contradictory, possibly due to differences in stage of recovery at the time of assessment. This study addresses this problem by collecting measures of white matter integrity and concomitant neuropsychological status at five time points in the first year following an mTBI. The findings suggest that neurocognitive status is significantly worse at 2 weeks post-injury and improves thereafter. However, neurocognitive status was effective at determining time-since-injury status. Additionally, among the neuroimaging metrics used, resting state connectivity demonstrated better discrimination of injured from healthy individuals than structural measures based on DWI or cortical volumetrics. Results from neuroimaging and neurocognitive testing suggest that time since injury is an important factor to consider when assessing structural and functional outcomes following mild traumatic brain injury.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1154318
Entities
People
- William D. Killgore
Organizations
- University of Arizona