Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug;11(8):e2261.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.2261. Epub 2021 Jun 21.

Atypical resting state functional connectivity in mild traumatic brain injury

Joelle Amir  1 , Jay Kumar Raghavan Nair  2 , Raquel Del Carpio-O'Donovan  2 , Alain Ptito  1   3 , Jen-Kai Chen  1 , Jeffrey Chankowsky  2 , Simon Tinawi  4 , Ekaterina Lunkova  1 , Rajeet Singh Saluja  2   3
Affiliations

Atypical resting state functional connectivity in mild traumatic brain injury

Joelle Amir et al. Brain Behav. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate changes in three intrinsic functional connectivity networks (IFCNs; default mode network [DMN], salience network [SN], and task-positive network [TPN]) in individuals who had sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were acquired from 27 mTBI patients with persistent postconcussive symptoms, along with 26 age- and sex-matched controls. These individuals were recruited from a Level-1 trauma center, at least 3 months after a traumatic episode. IFCNs were established based on seed-to-voxel, region-of-interest (ROI) to ROI, and independent component analyses (ICA). Subsequently, we analyzed the relationship between functional connectivity and postconcussive symptoms.

Results: Seed-to-voxel analysis of rs-fMRI demonstrated decreased functional connectivity in the right lateral parietal lobe, part of the DMN, and increased functional connectivity in the supramarginal gyrus, part of the SN. Our TPN showed both hypo- and hyperconnectivity dependent on seed location. Within network hypoconnectivity was observed in the visual network also using group comparison. Using an ICA, we identified altered network functional connectivity in regions within four IFCNs (sensorimotor, visual, DMN, and dorsal attentional). A significant negative correlation between dorsal attentional network connectivity and behavioral symptoms score was also found.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that rs-fMRI may be of use clinically in order to assess disrupted functional connectivity among IFCNs in mTBI patients. Improved mTBI diagnostic and prognostic information could be especially relevant for athletes looking to safely return to play, as well for individuals from the general population with persistent postconcussive symptoms months after injury, who hope to resume activity.

Keywords: functional magnetic resonance imaging; intrinsic functional connectivity networks; mild traumatic brain injury; postconcussive symptoms; resting state.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Seed‐to‐voxel contrast between mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) > healthy controls functional connectivity for (A) lateral parietal (R) with precuneus, (B) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (R) with lateral occipital cortex (R), (C) insula (R) with lateral occipital cortex (R), lateral occipital cortex (L), and cingulate gyrus, (D) supramarginal gyrus (R) with lateral occipital cortex (R) and superior parietal lobule (R). Slices denote the peak activation coordinates, whereas the color bar represents positive t‐values in yellow/red and negative t‐values in blue/purple. Slices are displayed at uncorrected threshold p < .001, and false discovery rate (FDR)‐corrected cluster threshold p < .05
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Region‐of‐interest (ROI)‐to‐ROI contrast showing decreased functional connectivity (blue) for the mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) group as compared to healthy controls, after controlling for the effect of injury history. The graphic is displayed in superior view with ROI‐to‐ROI connection threshold set at p‐ false discovery rate (FDR) corrected < 0.05
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Independent component analyses (ICA) contrast between mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) > healthy controls functional connectivity for (A) sensorimotor network with frontal orbital cortex (L), (B) visual network with lateral occipital cortex (R), (C) visual network with temporal occipital fusiform cortex (R), (D) default mode network (DMN) with cuneal cortex (L), (E) dorsal attentional network with cingulate gyrus. Slices denote the peak activation coordinates, whereas the color bar represents positive t‐values in yellow/red and negative t‐values in blue/purple. Slices are displayed at uncorrected threshold p < .001, and false discovery rate (FDR)‐corrected cluster threshold p < .0
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Significant negative correlation between the dorsal attentional network functional connectivity values and behavioral symptoms score (p = .05), as demonstrated by the trendline
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bharath, R. D., Munivenkatappa, A., Gohel, S., Panda, R., Saini, J., Rajeswaran, J., Shukla, D., Bhagavatula, I. D., & Biswal, B. B. (2015). Recovery of resting brain connectivity ensuing mild traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 513. 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00513 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Capó‐Aponte, J. E., Jorgensen‐Wagers, K. L., Sosa, J. A., Walsh, D. V., Goodrich, G. L., Temme, L. A., & Riggs, D. W. (2017). Visual dysfunctions at different stages after blast and non‐blast mild traumatic. Brain Injury: Optometry and Vision Science, 94(1), 7–15. 10.1097/OPX.0000000000000825 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chen, J.‐K., Johnston, K. M., Collie, A., McCrory, P., & Ptito, A. (2007). A validation of the post concussion symptom scale in the assessment of complex concussion using cognitive testing and functional MRI. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 78(11), 1231–1238. 10.1136/jnnp.2006.110395 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen, J.‐K., Johnston, K. M., Petrides, M., & Ptito, A. (2008). Recovery from mild head injury in sports: Evidence from serial functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in male athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 18(3), 241. - PubMed
    1. Chen, J.‐K., Johnston, K. M., Frey, S., Petrides, M., Worsley, K., & Ptito, A. (2004). Functional abnormalities in symptomatic concussed athletes: An fMRI study. Neuroimage, 22(1), 68–82. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.12.032 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types