Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2023
Use of support vector machines approach via ComBat harmonized diffusion tensor imaging for the diagnosis and prognosis of mild traumatic brain injury: a CENTER-TBI study.
The prediction of functional outcome after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is challenging. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not do a good job of explaining the variance in outcome, as many patients with incomplete recovery will have normal-appearing clinical neuroimaging. More advanced quantitative techniques such as diffusion MRI (dMRI), can detect microstructural changes not otherwise visible, and so may offer a way to improve outcome prediction. ⋯ Similar to the analysis between mTBI patients and controls, the three-category-harmonized ComBat FA and MD maps voxelwise approach yields statistically significant prediction scores between mTBI patients with complete and those with incomplete recovery (71.8% specificity, 66.2% F1-score and 0.71 AUC, p < 0.05), which provided a modest increase in the classification score (accuracy: 66.4%) compared with the classification based on age and sex only and ROI-wise approaches (accuracy: 61.4% and 64.7%, respectively). This study showed that ComBat harmonized FA and MD may provide additional information for diagnosis and prognosis of mTBI in a multi-modal machine learning approach. These findings demonstrate that dMRI may assist in the early detection of patients at risk of incomplete recovery from mTBI.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2023
Stress Reactivity after Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Relation with Behavioral Adjustment.
Traumatic injury is linked increasingly to alterations in both stress response systems and psychological health. We investigated reactivity of salivary analytes of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (cortisol) and autonomic nervous system (salivary alpha amylase, sAA) during a psychosocial stress procedure in relation to psychological health outcomes. In a prospective cohort design, stress reactivity of children ages 8 to 15 years hospitalized for traumatic brain injury (TBI; n = 74) or extracranial injury (EI; n = 35) was compared with healthy controls (n = 51) 7 months after injury. ⋯ The flattened and/or reversed direction of sAA reactivity with psychological health outcomes after TBI, and to a lesser degree EI, suggests autonomic nervous system dysregulation. Across groups, sAA reactivity interacted with sex on several psychological health outcomes with greater dysregulation in girls than in boys. Our findings highlight altered sAA, but not cortisol reactivity, as a potential mechanism of biological vulnerability associated with poorer adjustment after TBI.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2023
History of traumatic brain injury in relation to cognitive functioning, memory complaints and brain structure in mid-life.
In this study, we investigated history of traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness in relation to cognitive functioning, subjective memory complaints, and brain structure in mid-life. This study included 2005 participants (mean age: 47.6 years, standard deviation: 5.0, women: 65%) from the Origins of Alzheimer's Disease Across the Life Course (ORACLE) study between 2017 and 2020. History of traumatic brain injury was defined as at least one lifetime self-reported brain injury with loss of consciousness. ⋯ Additionally, the association was stronger in those with >30 min loss of consciousness (OR: 3.57; 95% CI: 1.48, 8.59) than in those with <30 min loss of consciousness (OR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.25, 2.74), when compared with those without history of traumatic brain injury. Lastly, we found no associations between history of traumatic brain injury and any of the structural brain MRI outcomes. In conclusion, our study suggests that at least one lifetime traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness in mid-life is associated with long-term subjective memory complaints, but not with cognitive functioning or brain structure.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2023
Association of frequent sexual choking/strangulation with neurophysiological responses: a pilot resting-state fMRI study.
Being choked or strangled during partnered sex is an emerging sexual behavior, prevalent among young adult women. The goal of this study was to test whether, and to what extent, frequently being choked or strangled during sex is associated with cortical surface functioning and functional connectivity. This case-control study consisted of two groups (choking vs. choking-naïve). ⋯ The dynamic analysis revealed hyperconnectivity between the left angular gyrus and the bilateral postcentral gyrus in the choking group compared with the choking-naïve group. Taken together, our data show that multiple experiences of sexual choking/strangulation are associated with an inter-hemispheric imbalance in neural activation pattern and hyperconnectivity between the angular gyrus and brain regions related to motor control, consciousness, and emotion. A longitudinal study using multi-modal neurological assessments is needed to clarify the acute and chronic consequences of sexual choking/strangulation.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2023
Lifetime Traumatic Brain Injury and Cognitive Domain Deficits in Late Life: The PROTECT-TBI Cohort Study.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes cognitive impairment but it remains contested regarding which cognitive domains are most affected. Further, moderate-severe TBI is known to be deleterious, but studies of mild TBI (mTBI) show a greater mix of negative and positive findings. This study examines the longer-term cognitive effects of TBI severity and number of mTBIs in later life. ⋯ The most sensitive cognitive domains are attention and executive function, with approximately double the effect compared with processing speed and working memory. Post-TBI cognitive rehabilitation should be targeted appropriately to domain-specific effects. Significant long-term cognitive deficits were associated with three or more lifetime mTBIs, a critical consideration when counseling individuals post-TBI about continuing high-risk activities.