Significant Acceleration of Regional Brain Aging and Atrophy After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Brain regions' rates of age-related volumetric change after traumatic brain injury (TBI) are unknown. Here, we quantify these rates cross-sectionally in 113 persons with recent mild TBI (mTBI), whom we compare against 3 418 healthy controls (HCs). Regional gray matter (GM) volumes were extracted from magnetic resonance images. Linear regression yielded regional brain ages and the annualized average rates of regional GM volume loss. These results were compared across groups after accounting for sex and intracranial volume. In HCs, the steepest rates of volume loss were recorded in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and lateral orbital sulcus. In mTBI, approximately 80% of GM structures had significantly steeper rates of annual volume loss than in HCs. The largest group differences involved the short gyri of the insula and both the long gyrus and central sulcus of the insula. No significant sex differences were found in the mTBI group, regional brain ages being the oldest in prefrontal and temporal structures. Thus, mTBI involves significantly steeper regional GM loss rates than in HCs, reflecting older-than-expected regional brain ages.