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Updated: Oct 10, 2025
Advanced Diffusion Imaging in The Hippocampus of Rats with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: August 14, 2019
Examining brain white matter after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury using neurite orientation dispersion and
Ayushi Shukla1, Ashley L Ware2, Sunny Guo3
1Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Canada.
Insights
This study found no significant white matter differences in children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) compared to orthopedic injury (OI) using advanced MRI techniques. Further longitudinal research is needed to understand potential long-term brain changes after pediatric mTBI.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Pediatric Neurology
- Radiology
Background:
- Pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common injury affecting millions of children annually.
- Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) are advanced MRI techniques sensitive to white matter microstructure.
- Previous studies have not extensively examined NODDI in pediatric mTBI.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate white matter alterations in children with mTBI compared to those with mild orthopedic injury (OI).
- To utilize both DTI and NODDI to gain deeper insights into brain changes post-mTBI.
- To compare DTI and NODDI metrics in major white matter tracts between pediatric mTBI and OI groups.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 320 children with mTBI and 176 with OI, aged 8-16.99 years.
- Acquired 3T MRI scans on average 11 days post-injury.
- Calculated DTI and NODDI metrics for seven major white matter tracts, comparing groups using ANCOVA and FDR correction.
Main Results:
- No significant group differences in DTI or NODDI metrics were found between mTBI and OI groups in the analyzed white matter tracts.
- Age was positively associated with fractional anisotropy and neurite density index.
- Age was negatively associated with mean diffusivity across all tracts.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric mTBI showed no significant white matter microstructure differences compared to OI at the post-acute stage.
- mTBI may be associated with minimal white matter changes, if any, in the early stages.
- Longitudinal studies are necessary to track potential evolving brain differences over time.
Background:
Pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) affects millions of children annually. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is sensitive to axonal injuries and white matter microstructure and has been used to characterize the brain changes associated with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) is a diffusion model that can provide additional insight beyond traditional DTI metrics, but has not been examined in pediatric mTBI. The goal of this study was to employ DTI and NODDI to gain added insight into white matter alterations in children with mTBI compared to children with mild orthopedic injury (OI).
Methods:
Children (mTBI n = 320, OI n = 176) aged 8-16.99 years (12.39 ± 2.32 years) were recruited from emergency departments at five hospitals across Canada and underwent 3 T MRI on average 11 days post-injury. DTI and NODDI metrics were calculated for seven major white matter tracts and compared between groups using univariate analysis of covariance controlling for age, sex, and scanner type. False discovery rate (FDR) was used to correct for multiple comparisons.
Results:
Univariate analysis revealed no significant group main effects or interactions in DTI or NODDI metrics. Fractional anisotropy and neurite density index in all tracts exhibited a significant positive association with age and mean diffusivity in all tracts exhibited a significant negative association with age in the whole sample.
Conclusions:
Overall, there were no significant differences between mTBI and OI groups in brain white matter microstructure from either DTI or NODDI in the seven tracts. This indicates that mTBI is associated with relatively minor white matter differences, if any, at the post-acute stage. Brain differences may evolve at later stages of injury, so longitudinal studies with long-term follow-up are needed.
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