• Laura M Franke, William C Walker, Kathy W Hoke, and Joanna R Wares.
• Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, 1201 Broad Rock Blvd, Richmond, VA 23249, United States; Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, 1201 Broad Rock Blvd, Richmond, VA 23249, United States; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 1223 E. Marshall St, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298, United States. Electronic address: Laura.Franke@va.gov.
• Int J Psychophysiol. 2016 Aug 1; 106: 21-9.

AbstractSpectral information from resting state EEG is altered in acute mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and in disorders of consciousness, but there is disagreement about whether mTBI can elicit long term changes in the spectral profile. Even when identified, any long-term changes attributed to TBI can be confounded by psychiatric comorbidities such as PTSD, particularly for combat-related mTBI where postdeployment distress is commonplace. To address this question, we measured spectral power during the resting state in a large sample of service members and Veterans varying in mTBI history and active PTSD diagnosis but matched for having had combat blast exposure. We found that PTSD was associated with decreases in low frequency power, especially in the right temporoparietal region, while conversely, blast-related mTBI was associated with increases in low frequency power, especially in prefrontal and right temporal areas. Results support the idea that long-term neurophysiological effects of mTBI share some features with states of reduced arousal and cognitive dysfunction, suggesting a role for EEG in tracking the trajectory of recovery and persisting vulnerabilities to injury. Additionally, results suggest that EEG power reflects distinct pathophysiologies for current PTSD and chronic mTBI.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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