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A Mouse Model of Single and Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: June 20, 2017
The structural connectome of children with traumatic brain injury
Marsh Königs1,2, L W Ernest van Heurn3, Roel Bakx3
1Clinical Neuropsychology Section, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Insights
Moderate to severe pediatric TBI alters brain connectivity, impacting intelligence and working memory in children. Mild TBI with risk factors showed no significant effects on the structural connectome.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can lead to long-term neurodevelopmental deficits.
- Understanding the impact of TBI severity on brain structure and function is crucial for effective intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of mild to severe pediatric TBI on the structural connectome.
- To correlate structural connectome alterations with neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Diffusion tensor imaging and probabilistic tractography were used to analyze structural connectivity in children aged 8-14.
- Graph theory metrics, including characteristic path length, were applied to quantify connectome organization.
- Neurocognitive tests and behavioral questionnaires assessed functional outcomes.
Main Results:
- Mild TBI with risk factors (mildRF+) did not show significant changes in the structural connectome compared to controls.
- Moderate to severe TBI was associated with increased characteristic path length, indicating altered brain network organization.
- Longer characteristic path length correlated with poorer intelligence and working memory in children with TBI.
Conclusions:
- Moderate to severe pediatric TBI disrupts the structural connectome's organization, potentially underlying neurocognitive dysfunction.
- Mild TBI, even with risk factors, did not demonstrate a measurable impact on the structural connectome in this study.
- The methods used to define and weight connectivity influence the sensitivity of connectome analysis to TBI effects.
Abstract:
This study aimed to investigate the impact of mild to severe pediatric TBI on the structural connectome. Children aged 8-14 years with trauma control (TC) injury (n = 27) were compared to children with mild TBI and risk factors for complicated TBI (mildRF+ , n = 20) or moderate/severe TBI (n = 16) at 2.8 years post-injury. Probabilistic tractography on diffusion tensor imaging data was used in combination with graph theory to study structural connectivity. Functional outcome was measured using neurocognitive tests and parent and teacher questionnaires for behavioral functioning. The results revealed no evidence for an impact of mildRF+ TBI on the structural connectome. In contrast, the moderate/severe TBI group showed longer characteristic path length (P = 0.022, d = 0.82) than the TC group. Furthermore, longer characteristic path length was related to poorer intelligence and poorer working memory in children with TBI. In conclusion, children have abnormal organization of the structural connectome after moderate/severe TBI, which may be implicated in neurocognitive dysfunction associated with pediatric TBI. These findings should be interpreted in the context of our exploratory analyses, which indicate that the definition and weighting of connectivity (e.g., streamline density, fractional anisotropy) influence the properties of the reconstructed connectome and its sensitivity to the impact and outcome of pediatric TBI. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3603-3614, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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