Regional Topological Aberrances of White Matter- and Gray Matter-Based Functional Networks for Attention Processing May Foster Traumatic Brain Injury-Related Attention Deficits in Adults

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is highly prevalent in adults. TBI-related functional brain alterations have been linked with common post-TBI neurobehavioral sequelae, with unknown neural substrates. This study examined the systems-level functional brain alterations in white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) for visual sustained-attention processing, and their interactions and contributions to post-TBI attention deficits. Task-based functional MRI data were collected from 42 adults with TBI and 43 group-matched normal controls (NCs), and analyzed using the graph theoretic technique. Global and nodal topological properties were calculated and compared between the two groups. Correlation analyses were conducted between the neuroimaging measures that showed significant between-group differences and the behavioral symptom measures in attention domain in the groups of TBI and NCs, respectively. Significantly altered nodal efficiencies and/or degrees in several WM and GM nodes were reported in the TBI group, including the posterior corona radiata (PCR), posterior thalamic radiation (PTR), postcentral gyrus (PoG), and superior temporal sulcus (STS). Subjects with TBI also demonstrated abnormal systems-level functional synchronization between the PTR and STS in the right hemisphere, hypo-interaction between the PCR and PoG in the left hemisphere, as well as the involvement of systems-level functional aberrances in the PCR in TBI-related behavioral impairments in the attention domain. The findings of the current study suggest that TBI-related systems-level functional alterations associated with these two major-association WM tracts, and their anatomically connected GM regions may play critical role in TBI-related behavioral deficits in attention domains.

Static and dynamic topological organization of brain functional connectome in acute mild traumatic brain injury

“…Our findings suggest that this disruption to the brain functional network following mTBI might contribute to the deficits in visuospatial/executive performance and complex cognitive processes present after mTBI. Furthermore, for nodal properties, significantly altered nodal efficiencies in several nodes were reported in the mTBI group, mainly including the precuneus, post cingulate gyrus, and temporal lobe, partly consistent with a previous study (32). Meanwhile, this study showed disrupted node degree centrality in some regions, such as the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes.…”

“…Furthermore, for nodal properties, significantly altered nodal efficiencies in several nodes were reported in the mTBI group, mainly including the precuneus, post cingulate gyrus, and temporal lobe, partly consistent with a previous study (32). Meanwhile, this study showed disrupted node degree centrality in some regions, such as the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes.…”

Brain Dynamics and Connectivity from Birth through Adolescence

“…Their findings provide evidence concerning the temporal instability of the functional connectivity associated with TBI-related attention deficits in children. In the fourth article, the same research group [4] also examined alterations in the functional network organization and connectivity in both white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) during sustained attention processing in adults with post-TBI attention deficits. The authors found significant alterations in functional integration and segregation in several WM and GM regions involved in visually sustained attention processing in the TBI group compared to healthy controls.…”