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Investigations on Alterations of Hippocampal Circuit Function Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
10:59

Investigations on Alterations of Hippocampal Circuit Function Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Published on: November 19, 2012

Disruption of limbic pathways in a case of profound amnesia

A C Papanicolaou1, K M Hasan, C Boake

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Andrew.C.Papanicolaou@uth.tmc.edu

Neurocase
|November 14, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) revealed subtle white matter damage 14 years after head injury, explaining episodic amnesia. This advanced imaging identified fornix tract anomalies missed by conventional MRI.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroimaging
  • Neurology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Episodic amnesia can result from traumatic brain injury.
  • Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is the standard for assessing brain structure post-injury.

Observation:

  • A patient with episodic amnesia following severe closed head injury underwent imaging.
  • Initial CMRI, two months post-injury, showed only a right superior frontal lesion.

Findings:

  • Fourteen years after the injury, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) detected structural anomalies in limbic white matter tracts.
  • Specifically, DTI revealed damage to the fornix, which was not visible on CMRI.

Implications:

  • DTI can identify long-term white matter abnormalities after traumatic brain injury that are missed by CMRI.
  • These subtle fornix tract injuries may underlie persistent episodic amnesia.

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