• Zhuonan Wang, Ming Zhang, Chuanzhu Sun, Shan Wang, Jieli Cao, WangKevin K WKKWProgram for Neurotrauma, Neuroproteomics, and Biomarker Research, Departments of Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Shuoqiu Gan, Wenmin Huang, Xuan Niu, Yanan Zhu, Yingxiang Sun, and Lijun Bai.
• The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
• J. Neurotrauma. 2021 Feb 15; 38 (4): 464-473.

AbstractThe present study examined dynamic interhemispheric structural and functional connectivity in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients with longitudinal observations from early subacute to chronic stages within 1 year of injury. Forty-two mTBI patients and 42 matched healthy controls underwent clinical and neuropsychological evaluations, diffusion tensor imaging, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. All mTBI patients were initially evaluated within 14 d post-injury (T-1) and at 3 months (T-2) and 6-12 months (T-3) follow-ups. Separate transcallosal fiber tracts in the corpus callosum (CC) with respect to their specific interhemispheric cortical projections were derived with fiber tracking and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity analyses. With diffusion tensor imaging-based tractography, five vertical segments of the CC (I-V) were distinguished. Correlation analyses were performed to evaluate relationships between structural and functional imaging measures as well as imaging indices and neuropsychological measures. The loss of integrity in the CC demonstrated saliently persistent and time-dependent regional specificity after mTBI. The impairment spanned multiple segments from CC II at T-1 and CC I, II, VI, and V at T-2 to all subregions at T-3. Moreover, loss of interhemispheric structural connectivity through the CC corresponded well to regions presenting altered interhemispheric functional connectivity. Decreased functional connectivity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex thereafter contributed to poor executive function in mTBI patients. The current study provides further evidence that the CC is a sign to interhemispheric highways underpinning the widespread cerebral pathology typifying mTBI syndrome.

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