Alteration of Brain Default Network in Subacute Phase of Injury in Concussed Individuals: Resting-state fMRI study

Currently neuropsychological testing and traditional anatomical imaging are not sufficiently sensitive to detect differences in an individual’s brain less then three weeks post mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). After a college athlete is cleared post concussion to return to play they may still report physical and emotional symptoms that can persist over one-year post injury. A study was done using 15 student-athletes without a history of mTBI (control) and 14 collegiate athletes who suffered a grade 1 mTBI, diagnosed by a certified athletic trainer at on the field at initial contact. Functional connectivity characteristics were assessed between the control and athletes recovering from mTBI using a resting state function magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Major findings include: resting state of default mode network (DMN) in mTBI subjects showed an overall reduced connectivity, specifically connections from the posterior cingulated cortex (PCC) with the anterior cingulated gyrus (ACC) and right supramarginal guyrus  and hyper-connectivity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). They also found a reduced interhemispheric connectivity which is consistent with previous studies. To see full study