Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Development of an Uncomplicated Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Model Modified by Weight-Drop Method and Evidenced by Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: April 11, 2025
Symptomatic white matter changes in mild traumatic brain injury resemble pathologic features of early Alzheimer
Saeed Fakhran1, Karl Yaeger, Lea Alhilali
1Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 200 Lothrop St, Presby South Tower, 8th Floor, 8 North, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
Purpose:
To evaluate white matter integrity in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) who did not have morphologic abnormalities at conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with diffusion-tensor imaging to determine any relationship between patterns of white matter injury and severity of postconcussion symptoms.
Materials And Methods:
The institutional review board approved this study, with waiver of informed consent. Diffusion-tensor images from 64 consecutive patients with mild TBI obtained with conventional MR imaging were evaluated retrospectively. Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were generated as a measure of white matter integrity. All patients underwent a neurocognitive evaluation. Correlations between skeletonized FA values in white matter, total concussion symptom score, and findings of sleep and wake disturbances were analyzed with regression analysis that used tract-based spatial statistics.
Results:
Total concussion symptom scores varied from 2 to 97 (mean ± standard deviation, 32.7 ± 24.4), with 34 patients demonstrating sleep and wake disturbances. Tract-based spatial statistics showed a significant correlation between high total concussion symptom score and reduced FA at the gray matter-white matter junction (P < .05), most prominently in the auditory cortex (P < .05). FA in the parahippocampal gyri was significantly decreased in patients with sleep and wake disturbances relative to patients without such disturbances (0.26 and 0.37, respectively; P < .05).
Conclusion:
The distribution of white matter abnormalities in patients with symptomatic mild TBI is strikingly similar to the distribution of pathologic abnormalities in patients with early Alzheimer dementia, a finding that may help direct research strategies.
Related Concept Videos
Alzheimer Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Alzheimer Disease l: Introduction
Dementia l: Introduction
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ and tau...
Traumatic Brain Injury l: Introduction
Dementia
The progression of dementia is generally gradual.
