Neuroimaging correlates of novel psychiatric disorders after pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To study magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correlates of novel (new-onset) psychiatric disorders (NPD) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and orthopedic injury (OI).

Method: Participants were 7 to 17 years of age at the time of hospitalization for either TBI or OI. The study used a prospective, longitudinal, controlled design with standardized psychiatric assessments conducted at baseline (reflecting pre-injury function) and 3 months post-injury.

Diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric analysis of the ventral striatum in adults with traumatic brain injury.

Objectives: The aim was to determine if there are changes in the integrity and volume of the ventral striatum following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and if these changes relate to executive functioning.

Methods: This study recruited 14 participants with severe TBI (mean age: 22 years) and 15 demographically-matched controls. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and volumetric analysis at 6 months post-injury.

Acute white matter differences in the fornix following mild traumatic brain injury using diffusion tensor imaging.

The integrity of the fornix using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in adolescent participants with acute mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) compared to a demographically matched control group was examined. Fractional anisotropy (FA) in the fornix was elevated in the mild traumatic brain injured group. Performance on the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) was lower in the group with mTBI.

Brain activation during a social attribution task in adolescents with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

The ability to make accurate judgments about the mental states of others, sometimes referred to as theory of mind (ToM), is often impaired following traumatic brain injury (TBI), and this deficit may contribute to problems with interpersonal relationships. The present study used an animated social attribution task (SAT) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine structures mediating ToM in adolescents with moderate to severe TBI. The study design also included a comparison group of matched, typically developing (TD) adolescents.

Brain imaging correlates of verbal working memory in children following traumatic brain injury.

Neural correlates of working memory (WM) based on the Sternberg Item Recognition Task (SIRT) were assessed in 40 children with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) compared to 41 demographically-comparable children with orthopedic injury (OI). Multiple magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods assessed structural and functional brain correlates of WM, including volumetric and cortical thickness measures on all children; functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed on a subset of children. Confirming previous findings, children with TBI had decreased cortical thickness and volume as compared to the OI group.

Mental state attributions and diffusion tensor imaging after traumatic brain injury in children.

We studied social cognition in 49 children 3 months after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and in 39 children with orthopedic injury (OI). Children underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and a mental attribution task showing two triangles. Mental state attributions increased when one triangle reacted to intentions of the other, but less so in the TBI than the OI group.

Diffusion tensor imaging of incentive effects in prospective memory after pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Few studies exist investigating the brain-behavior relations of event-based prospective memory (EB-PM) impairments following traumatic brain injury (TBI). To address this, children with moderate-to-severe TBI performed an EB-PM test with two motivational enhancement conditions and underwent concurrent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 3 months post-injury. Children with orthopedic injuries (OI; n=37) or moderate-to-severe TBI (n=40) were contrasted.

Alterations in white matter pathways in Angelman syndrome.

Aim: Angelman syndrome is a neurogenetic disorder characterized by severe intellectual disability, absent speech, seizures, and outbursts of laughter. The aim of this study was to utilize diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine alterations in white matter pathways in Angelman syndrome, with an emphasis on correlations with clinical severity.

Method: DTI was used to examine the arcuate fasciculus (AF), uncinate fasciculus (UF), inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), and the corpus callosum (CC).

Longitudinal changes in the corpus callosum following pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Background: Atrophy of the corpus callosum (CC) is a documented consequence of moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), which has been expressed as volume loss using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Other advanced imaging modalities such as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have also detected white matter microstructural alteration following TBI in the CC. The manner and degree to which macrostructural changes such as volume and microstructural changes develop over time following pediatric TBI, and their relation to a measure of processing speed is the focus of this longitudinal investigation.

The temporal stem in traumatic brain injury: preliminary findings.

The temporal stem (TS) of the temporal lobe is a major white matter (WM) region containing several major pathways that connect the temporal lobe with the rest of the brain. Because of its location, it may be particularly vulnerable to shear-strain effects resulting from traumatic brain injury (TBI). A case vignette is presented in a patient with severe brain injury and focal TS pathology.

Diffusion tensor imaging of the cingulum bundle in children after traumatic brain injury.

Structural damage to the prefrontal-cingulate network has been implicated in cognitive and neurobehavioral deficits associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Forty-six children who had sustained moderate-to-severe TBI and 43 children with extracranial injury were imaged using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were found in the cingulum bundles bilaterally in the TBI group.

Diffusion tensor imaging analysis of frontal lobes in pediatric traumatic brain injury.

This study examined the use of diffusion tensor imaging in detecting white matter changes in the frontal lobes following pediatric traumatic brain injury. A total of 46 children (ages 8-16 years) with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury and 47 children with orthopedic injury underwent 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 months postinjury.

The Neurological Outcome Scale for Traumatic Brain Injury (NOS-TBI): II. Reliability and convergent validity.

A standardized measure of neurological dysfunction specifically designed for TBI currently does not exist and the lack of assessment of this domain represents a substantial gap. To address this, the Neurological Outcome Scale for Traumatic Brain Injury (NOS-TBI) was developed for TBI outcomes research through the addition to and modification of items specifically relevant to patients with TBI, based on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. In a sample of 50 participants (mean age = 33.

Diffusion tensor imaging of mild to moderate blast-related traumatic brain injury and its sequelae.

To evaluate the effects of mild to moderate blast-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the microstructure of brain white matter (WM) and neurobehavioral outcomes, we studied 37 veterans and service members (mean age 31.5 years, SD = 7.2; post-injury interval 871.

Evaluating the relationship between memory functioning and cingulum bundles in acute mild traumatic brain injury using diffusion tensor imaging.

Compromised memory functioning is one of the commonly reported cognitive sequelae seen following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been shown to be sufficiently sensitive at detecting early microstructural pathological alterations after mTBI. Given its location and shape, the cingulate, which is comprised of the cingulate gyrus (gray matter) and cingulum bundles (white matter), is selectively vulnerable to mTBI.

The relation between Glasgow Coma Scale score and later cerebral atrophy in paediatric traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: To examine initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and its relationship with later cerebral atrophy in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) using Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (QMRI) at 4 months post-injury. It was hypothesized that a lower GCS score would predict later generalized atrophy. As a guide in assessing paediatric TBI patients, the probability of developing chronic cerebral atrophy was determined based on the initial GCS score.

Diffusion tensor imaging of hemispheric asymmetries in the developing brain.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed in 39 right-handed children to examine structural hemispheric differences and the impact of age, socioeconomic status, and sex on these differences. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were smaller in the left than in the right temporal, prefrontal, anterior internal capsular and the thalamic regions, and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were larger in the left than in the right internal capsule, thalamus, and cingulate. Significant region-by-sex interactions disclosed that the relation of DTI asymmetries to performance depended on sex including the relation of temporal lobes to reading comprehension and the relation of frontal lobes to solving applied mathematical problems.

Diffusion tensor imaging in relation to cognitive and functional outcome of traumatic brain injury in children.

Objective: To investigate the relation of white matter integrity using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to cognitive and functional outcome of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children.

Design: Prospective observational study of children who had sustained moderate to severe TBI and a comparison group of children who had sustained orthopedic injury (OI).

Participants: Thirty-two children who had sustained moderate to severe TBI and 36 children with OI were studied.

Correlates of social problem solving during the first year after traumatic brain injury in children.

Effects of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) on social problem-solving were examined in a longitudinal study of 103 children with moderate-to-severe TBI (n = 52) or orthopedic injury (OI; n = 51) using the Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies task (INS). Children solved age-appropriate hypothetical social conflicts, with responses for four problem-solving steps scored by developmental level. The OI group performed better than the TBI group, but rate of change in performance over time did not differ between groups, suggesting improvement in children with TBI was not due to recovery from injury.