fMRI study of problem-solving after severe traumatic brain injury
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026
![Semi-quantitative Assessment Using [18F]FDG Tracer in Patients with Severe Brain Injury](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcloudfront.jove.com%2FCDNSource%2Fteasers%2F58641.jpg&w=3840&q=50)
Semi-quantitative Assessment Using [18F]FDG Tracer in Patients with Severe Brain Injury
Published on: November 9, 2018
Fabienne Cazalis1, Antoine Feydy, Romain Valabrègue
1INSERM U 483, Paris, France. fabfab@ucla.edu
Objective:
To assess the cerebral correlates of the dysexecutive syndrome after diffuse severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Methods:
Ten patients with sub-acute/chronic severe TBI without detectable focal cortical contusion and 11 matched healthy subjects were included in a parametric fMRI study using a planning task, the Tower of London.
Results:
Brain activation in the left Dorsolateral Pre-frontal Cortex (DLPFC) and the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) was closely related to performance. Patients with TBI who performed the task efficiently showed, like healthy controls who obtained a similar pattern of performance, a large activation in the left DLPFC and a small activation in the ACC. In contrast, poor performance was associated with a reduced activation in these both regions.
Conclusion:
Problem-solving deficits after severe diffuse TBI could be related to an impaired activation of the DLPFC and of the ACC.
