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Acute and longitudinal changes in motor cortex function following mild traumatic brain injury
Nick R Miller1, Alia L Yasen, Logan F Maynard
1Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon , Eugene, OR , USA.
Primary Objective:
To evaluate excitability and inhibition of the motor cortex acutely and longitudinally following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
Research Design:
A longitudinal paired case-control design was used to examine cortical excitability and inhibition in 15 adults who had sustained an mTBI (mean age = 20.8 ± 1.2 years) and 15 matched control participants (mean age = 21.1 ± 1.3 years).
Methods And Procedures:
Participants visited the lab within 72 hours of injury and again at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks post-injury. During each visit, transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to examine resting motor threshold (RMT), motor evoked potential peak-to-peak amplitude (MEPamp) and cortical silent period (CSP) duration of the first dorsal interosseous muscle.
Main Outcomes And Results:
There were no differences between groups in RMT (p = 0.10) or MEPamp (p = 0.22) at 72 hours post-injury or across the 2-month testing period (p ≥ 0.68), indicating similar cortical excitability. However, the CSP duration was higher in individuals with mTBI, indicating greater intra-cortical inhibition compared with the control group at 72 hours post-injury (p = 0.03) and throughout the 2 months of recovery (p = 0.009).
Conclusions:
mTBI appeared to have little effect on cortical excitability, but an acute and long-lasting effect on intra-cortical inhibition.