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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Advanced Diffusion Imaging in The Hippocampus of Rats with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: August 14, 2019
Diffusion-tensor imaging implicates prefrontal axonal injury in executive function impairment following very mild
Michael L Lipton1, Edwin Gulko, Molly E Zimmerman
1Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. mlipton@aecom.yu.edu
Purpose:
To determine whether frontal white matter diffusion abnormalities can help predict acute executive function impairment after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
Materials And Methods:
This study had institutional review board approval, included written informed consent, and complied with HIPAA. Diffusion-tensor imaging and standardized neuropsychologic assessments were performed in 20 patients with mTBI within 2 weeks of injury and 20 matched control subjects. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) images (imaging parameters: 3.0 T, 25 directions, b = 1000 sec/mm(2)) were compared by using whole-brain voxelwise analysis. Spearman correlation analyses were performed to evaluate associations between diffusion measures and executive function.
Results:
Multiple clusters of lower frontal white matter FA, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), were present in patients (P < .005), with several clusters also demonstrating higher MD (P < .005). Patients performed worse on tests of executive function. Lower DLPFC FA was significantly correlated with worse executive function performance in patients (P < .05).
Conclusion:
Impaired executive function following mTBI is associated with axonal injury involving the DLPFC.
