Multi-Modal Analysis of Resting-State fMRI Data in mTBI Patients and Association With Neuropsychological Outcomes

Various cognitive disorders were reported for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients during acute stage. This acute stage provides an opportunity for clinicians to optimize treatment protocols, which are based on the evaluation of brain structural connectivity. So far, most of brain functional magnetic resonance imaging studies are focused on moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). In this study, we prospectively collected resting state data on 50 mTBI within 3 days of injury and 50 healthy volunteers and analyzed using ALFF, ReHo, graph theory methods and behavior measure, to explore the dysfunctional brain regions in acute mTBI. In our study, a total of 50 patients suffering <3 days mTBI and 50 healthy subjects were tested in rs-fMRI, as well as under neuropsychological examinations including Wechsler Intelligence Scale and Stroop Color and Word Test. The correlation analysis was conducted between graph theoretic parameters and neuropsychological results. For mTBI group, the ReHo of inferior temporal gyrus, cerebellum superior are significantly lower than the control group, and the ALFF of left insula, Cerebellum Inferior and middle occipital gyrus were significantly higher than control group, which inferred the dysfunctionality usually observed in Parkinson’s disease. The disorder of executive function was significantly correlated to the global efficiencies of the dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex, which is consistent with the literature, the acute mTBI patients demonstrated abnormity in terms of motor speed, association, information processing speed, attention, and short-term memory function. The correlation analysis between the neuropsychological outcomes and the network efficiency for the mTBI group indicated that the executive dysfunction might be caused by local brain changes. Our data supports that the cerebral internal network has compensatory reactions in response to sudden pathological and neurophysiological changes. In the future, multi-mode rs-fMRI analysis could be a valuable tool for evaluating the dysfunctional brain region after mTBI.