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Published on: April 11, 2025
Mathematical Difficulties and White Matter Abnormalities in Subacute Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Leen Van Beek1, Pol Ghesquière1, Lieven Lagae2
11 Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven , Belgium .
Insights
Children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) show mathematical deficits, particularly in number sense and problem-solving. These difficulties are linked to impaired visuospatial working memory, not directly to white matter changes in the corpus callosum.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Traumatology
Background:
- Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in children can lead to cognitive impairments.
- Mathematical difficulties are frequently observed post-mTBI, but their specific nature and neural basis remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize mathematical impairments in pediatric mTBI.
- To investigate the neural correlates of these deficits using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
Main Methods:
- Compared 20 pediatric mTBI patients with 20 controls using cognitive assessments and DTI.
- Analyzed white matter integrity in the corpus callosum (CC) and longitudinal fasciculi via DTI tractography.
Main Results:
- mTBI group showed deficits in subitizing, non-symbolic numerosity processing, and procedural problem-solving.
- Visuospatial working memory impairments mediated these mathematical difficulties.
- DTI revealed subtle white matter differences in the CC, but these were not significantly correlated with mathematical performance.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric mTBI is associated with specific mathematical deficits, primarily driven by visuospatial working memory impairments.
- Observed white matter abnormalities in the corpus callosum do not directly explain the mathematical difficulties in this cohort.
Abstract:
Mathematical difficulties have been documented following pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), yet a precise characterization of these impairments and their neural correlates is currently unavailable. We aimed to characterize these impairments by comparing behavioral and neuroimaging (i.e., diffusion tensor imaging [DTI]) outcomes from children with subacute mTBI to typically-developing controls. Twenty subacute pediatric mTBI patients and 20 well-matched controls underwent cognitive assessment and DTI examination. DTI tractography was used to detect white matter abnormalities in the corpus callosum (CC) and superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi; these tracts are involved in mathematical performance and they are often damaged after mTBI. Behavioral results revealed that children with mTBI performed significantly more poorly on rapid apprehension of small numbers of objects (or "subitizing"), processing of non-symbolic numerosities, and procedural problem solving. These group differences were explained by differences in visuospatial working memory, which suggests that the observed mathematical difficulties may be a consequence of impairments in visuospatial abilities. DTI analysis revealed subtle group differences in the CC genu and splenium (i.e., higher fractional anisotropy and lower mean and radial diffusivity in children with mTBI) but the observed white matter abnormalities of the CC were not significantly associated with the observed mathematical difficulties in the mTBI patients.
