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Cingulo-Opercular and Frontoparietal Network Control of Effort and Fatigue in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Amy E Ramage1, Kimberly L Ray2, Hannah M Franz1
1Interdisciplinary Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|February 28, 2022
Summary
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) alters brain networks, causing persistent fatigue. Mild TBI patients show abnormal cingulo-opercular network connectivity, contributing to fatigue during cognitive tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Neurology
Background:
- Fatigue is a significant challenge for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), impacting their return to productivity.
- The neural underpinnings of fatigue in TBI are not well understood, particularly concerning cognitive control networks.
- Cognitive control networks, including the cingulo-opercular (CO) and frontoparietal (FP) networks, are crucial for sustained attention and performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural substrates of fatigue in mild TBI by examining the CO and FP networks.
- To understand how TBI pathophysiology disrupts the coordination of cognitive control networks.
- To identify differences in network connectivity and task-related modulation between individuals with mild TBI and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to assess brain activity in 61 individuals with mild TBI and 42 orthopedic controls.
- Participants performed a constant effort task involving varying levels of physical exertion.
- Network-based statistics were employed to analyze within-network organization and task-related connectivity fluctuations.
Main Results:
- The mild TBI group exhibited elevated CO network connectivity, which remained constant regardless of effort or time on task.
- In contrast, CO connectivity decreased over time in the control group.
- The mild TBI group showed delayed frontoparietal (FP) network connectivity fluctuations, which did not correlate with fatigue, unlike in controls.
Conclusions:
- Hyper-connectivity in the CO network and delayed/hypo-connectivity in the FP network in mild TBI may contribute to fatigue.
- Disruptions in detecting and responding to prediction errors, particularly within the CO network, are linked to persistent fatigue in TBI.
- These findings highlight the role of cognitive control network dysfunction in TBI-related fatigue and its impact on daily functioning.
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