Evaluating the cognitive consequences of mild traumatic brain injury and concussion by using electrophysiology

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. E7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Gosselin ◽  
Carolina Bottari ◽  
Jen-Kai Chen ◽  
Sonja Christina Huntgeburth ◽  
Louis De Beaumont ◽  
...  

Object Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), often referred to as concussion when it occurs in sports, produces persistent cognitive problems in at least 15% of patients. Unfortunately, conventional neuropsychological tests usually yield results within normal limits in this population. The main objective of this event-related potential (ERP) study was to understand brain functioning during the performance of a working memory (WM) task in patients who have sustained an MTBI, mostly due to motor vehicle accident or sports concussion. This study also aimed for a better understanding of the association between brain functioning as measured with ERP, behavioral performance on the WM task, postconcussion symptoms, type of injury (that is, sports concussion vs other types), and time since the injury. Methods Forty-four patients with MTBI (7.6 ± 8.4 months postinjury) were tested on a visual WM task with simultaneous recording of ERP, and were compared with 40 control volunteers who were their equivalent for age and sex. Amplitude and latency of frontal (N200 and N350) and parietal (P200 and P300) ERP waves were measured and were compared between groups. Correlation analyses were also performed between ERP characteristics, clinical variables, and behavioral performance. Results A significant group difference was found for behavioral performance on the WM task, in which the MTBI group had a lower percentage of correct answers than the control group (p < 0.05). The patients with MTBI also had smaller amplitudes of both frontal N350 and parietal P300 ERP components when compared with control volunteers (p < 0.05). No changes were found for latency of ERP components. Smaller ERP amplitudes were associated with slower reaction times and worse accuracy on the WM task among patients with MTBI (p < 0.05). Types of injury (that is, sports concussion vs other mechanisms) were not associated with different ERP characteristics. Conclusions Abnormal ERP results are observed in patients after MTBI or sports concussion, even for those in the nonacute stage after their injury. Current standard clinical evaluations most often fail to detect cerebral dysfunction after MTBI, even when patients or athletes report symptoms. Clinicians should be aware that patients with MTBI, including sports concussion, probably have underlying mild but persistent cerebral dysfunctions that require further investigation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gian Candrian ◽  
Andreas Müller ◽  
Patrizia Dall’Acqua ◽  
Kyveli Kompatsiari ◽  
Gian-Marco Baschera ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 205970021989410
Author(s):  
Taylor R Susa ◽  
Ryan D Brandt ◽  
Keara J Kangas ◽  
Catherine E Bammert ◽  
Erich N Ottem ◽  
...  

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) helps restore neuronal function following mild traumatic brain injury. BDNF levels can be obtained in blood serum and more recently in saliva. However, the relationship between serum and salivary BDNF is poorly understood—especially in relation to alterations in BDNF levels following mild traumatic brain injury. In this study, serum and salivary BDNF were collected from a sample of 42 collegiate student athletes. Half of the participants were recently cleared by a physician and/or an athletic trainer to return-to-play after experiencing a sports-related concussion. The other half had not experienced a concussion within the past year and were matched by age, sex, sport, and time of sample. Results suggest that incidences of depression, anxiety, and stress were all elevated in the concussion group, relative to the control participants. When controlling for stress-related negative affect, serum BDNF was elevated in the concussion group. However, there was no difference in salivary BDNF. Serum and salivary BDNF were uncorrelated across the entire sample. Yet, these measures of BDNF were correlated in the concussion group, but not the control group. In sum, serum BDNF is elevated in concussion post return-to-play; however, further research is needed to explore the utility of salivary BDNF following concussion.


Diagnostics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jang ◽  
Lee

Objectives: We investigated an approach for the diagnosis of traumatic axonal injury (TAI) of the spinothalamic tract (STT) that was based on diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) results and a statistical comparison of individual patients who showed central pain following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) with the control group. Methods: Five right-handed female patients in their forties and with central pain following mTBI and 12 age-, sex-, and handedness-matched healthy control subjects were recruited. After DTT reconstruction of the STT, we analyzed the STT in terms of three DTT parameters (fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and fiber number (FN)) and its configuration (narrowing and tearing). To assess narrowing, we determined the area of the STT on an axial slice of the subcortical white matter. Results: the FN values were significantly lower in at least one hemisphere of each patient when compared to those of the control subjects (p < 0.05). Significant decrements from the STT area in the control group were observed in at least one hemisphere of each patient (p < 0.05). Regarding configurational analysis, the STT showed narrowing and/or partial tearing in at least one hemisphere of each of the five patients. Conclusions: Herein, we demonstrate a DTT-based approach for the diagnosis of TAI of the STT. The approach involves a statistical comparison between DTT parameters of individual patients who show central pain following mTBI and those of an age-, gender-, and handedness-matched control group. We think that the method described in this study can be useful in the diagnosis of TAI of the STT in individual mTBI patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 205970021987267
Author(s):  
Karen A Sullivan ◽  
Leanne Billing

This study tested the effect of issuing return-to-activity advice on activity intentions at Day 2 and Day 10 days post simulated mild traumatic brain injury. One hundred and twenty-eight volunteers were randomly allocated to one of two groups who received ( n =  65) or did not receive standardized post-injury advice ( n =  63). To prime the simulation, the participants read a mild traumatic brain injury vignette about a person who is concussed while playing sport. Then the participants role-played the injured person and reported activity intentions for three activity types (cognitive, physical and restful) twice, once for each time frame (i.e. Day 2 and Day 10). The advice was to rest for the first 24–48 h and then gradually resume normal activities. There was no significant group by activity-type interaction ( p > .05) at Day 2. When both time frames were considered, there was no significant group × time frame interaction for any activity type or any item, except for an increase in non-manual (clerical) work and weight training at Day 10 compared to Day 2 in the group with the advice. In general, the intentions for all activity types were consistent with the recovery advice (i.e., rest then increasing activity), even when the advice was not given. However, at Day 10, cognitive and physical activity levels were still expected to be lower than usual (pre-injury), and many participants were uncertain about the concept of cognitive rest. These factors, along with individual patient circumstances, should be taken into account in rehabilitation planning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 32-43
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Tkachyshyn

The aim of the study was to compare blood pressure and electrocardiogram indices, assessed by their daily monitoring, and anamnestic data on mild traumatic brain injury between a group of patients with essential hypertension ≥6 months after a hemorrhagic stroke and a group of patients with essential hypertension without complications. Materials and methods. The total number of examined patients was 198 people, who were divided into 2 groups: the main (n = 94; age – 54,4±8,8 years, M±σ years) and the control (n = 104; age – 53,7±8,9 years) one. Patients in the main group suffered a hemorrhagic stroke as a complication of essential hypertension ≥6 months ago. The control group included patients with essential hypertension, stage II. In both groups of patients, the parameters of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and electrocardiogram were determined. Results. The indices of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the main group and the control group were the following ones, respectively: the mean daytime systolic blood pressure was 109,6±1,6 and 121,1±1,1 mm Hg, the minimal one was 74,4±2,0 mm Hg and 82,3±12,5 mm Hg, and the maximal one was 168,2±1,9 and 161,9±1,7 mm Hg, p<0,05. The daytime sigma systolic blood pressure (17,9±0,6) and its average real variability of (11,31±2,52 mm Hg) were bigger in the main group (p<0,05). The daytime index of the hyperbaric load of systolic blood pressure was bigger in the main group: it was 403,6±25,9 against 231,7±12,1 mm Hg×h in the comparison group (p<0,05). The mean, minimum and maximum heart rate at night were significantly lower in the main group (p<0,05). The QTcmin index was significantly lower in the main group in contrast to the control one – 286,28±43,34 and 336,69±22,55, and the QT variance was greater – 232,56±44,55 –  in comparison to the control group (188,31±33,67) (p<0,05). From the anamnestic data of patients, a significantly higher prevalence of mild traumatic brain injury was found in 37,4% (35 patients out of 94) in the main group relative to the control one – 13,5% (14 out of 104), p<0,05. Conclusions: The results of the study indicate the larger ranges of blood pressure variability in patients with essential hypertension complicated with hemorrhagic stroke, which can be caused by impaired autoregulation according to the QTc interval data. In combination with the disturbances of cerebral circulation, caused by the injury of the brain due to the hemorrhagic stroke alone or in combination with mild traumatic brain injury episode, such a situation may lead to the development of recurrent stroke.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Dretsch ◽  
Rael T. Lange ◽  
Jeffery S. Katz ◽  
Adam Goodman ◽  
Thomas A. Daniel ◽  
...  

Background:There is a high comorbidity of posttraumatic stress (PTS) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), with largely overlapping symptomatology, in military service members.Objective:To examine white matter integrity associated with PTS and mTBI as assessed using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).Method:Seventy-four active-duty U.S. soldiers with PTS (n = 16) and PTS with co-morbid history of mTBI (PTS/mTBI; n = 28) were compared to a military control group (n = 30). Participants received a battery of neurocognitive and clinical symptom measures. The number of abnormal DTI values was determined (>2 SDs from the mean of the control group) for fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), and then compared between groups. In addition, mean DTI values from white matter tracts falling into three categories were compared between groups: (i) projection tracts: superior, middle, and inferior cerebellar peduncles, pontine crossing tract, and corticospinal tract; (ii) association tracts: superior longitudinal fasciculus; and (iii) commissure tracts: cingulum bundle (cingulum-cingulate gyrus and cingulum-hippocampus), and corpus callosum.Results:The comorbid PTS/mTBI group had significantly greater traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and post-concussive symptoms, and they performed worse on neurocognitive testing than those with PTS alone and controls. The groups differed greatly on several clinical variables, but contrary to what we hypothesized, they did not differ greatly on primary and exploratory analytic approaches of hetero-spatial whole brain DTI analyses.Conclusion:The findings suggest that psychological health conditions rather than pathoanatomical changes may be contributing to symptom presentation in this population.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 174480692110378
Author(s):  
Matthew Flowers ◽  
Albert Leung ◽  
Dawn M Schiehser ◽  
Valerie Metzger-Smith ◽  
Lisa Delano-Wood ◽  
...  

Emerging evidence suggests mild traumatic brain injury related headache (MTBI-HA) is a form of neuropathic pain state. Previous supraspinal mechanistic studies indicate patients with MTBI-HA demonstrate a dissociative state with diminished levels of supraspinal prefrontal pain modulatory functions and enhanced supraspinal sensory response to pain in comparison to healthy controls. However, the relationship between supraspinal pain modulatory functional deficit and severity of MTBI-HA is largely unknown. Understanding this relationship may provide enhanced levels of insight about MTBI-HA and facilitate the development of treatments. This study assessed pain related supraspinal resting states among MTBI-HA patients with various headache intensity phenotypes with comparisons to controls via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Resting state fMRI data was analyzed with self-organizing-group-independent-component-analysis in three MTBI-HA intensity groups (mild, moderate, and severe) and one control group (n = 16 per group) within a pre-defined supraspinal pain network based on prior studies. In the mild-headache group, significant increases in supraspinal function were observed in the right premotor cortex (T = 3.53, p < 0.001) and the left premotor cortex (T = 3.99, p < 0.0001) when compared to the control group. In the moderate-headache group, a significant (T = −3.05, p < 0.01) decrease in resting state activity was observed in the left superior parietal cortex when compared to the mild-headache group. In the severe-headache group, significant decreases in resting state supraspinal activities in the right insula (T = −3.46, p < 0.001), right premotor cortex (T = −3.30, p < 0.01), left premotor cortex (T = −3.84, p < 0.001), and left parietal cortex (T = −3.94, p < 0.0001), and an increase in activity in the right secondary somatosensory cortex (T = 4.05, p < 0.0001) were observed when compared to the moderate-headache group. The results of the study suggest that the increase in MTBI-HA severity may be associated with an imbalance in the supraspinal pain network with decline in supraspinal pain modulatory function and enhancement of sensory/pain decoding.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. e027365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien Bouvier ◽  
David Balayssac ◽  
Julie Durif ◽  
Charline Mourgues ◽  
Catherine Sarret ◽  
...  

IntroductionS100B serum analysis in clinical routine could reduce the number of cranial CT (CCT) scans performed on children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Sampling should take place within 3 hours of trauma and cut-off levels should be based on paediatric reference ranges. The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of measuring serum S100B in the management of paediatric mTBI by demonstrating a decrease in the number of CCT scans prescribed in an S100B biomonitoring group compared with a ‘conventional management’ control group, with the assumption of a 30% relative decrease of the number of CCT scans between the two groups.Methods and analysisThe protocol is a randomised, multicentre, unblinded, prospective, interventional study (nine centres) using a stepped wedge cluster design, comparing two groups (S100B biomonitoring and control). Children in the control group will have CCT scans or be hospitalised according to the current recommendations of the French Society of Paediatrics (SFP). In the S100B biomonitoring group, blood sampling to determine serum S100B protein levels will take place within 3 hours after mTBI and subsequent management will depend on the assay. If S100B is in the normal range according to age, the children will be discharged from the emergency department after 6 hours’ observation. If the result is abnormal, CCT scans or hospitalisation will be prescribed in accordance with current SFP recommendations. The primary outcome measure will be the proportion of CCT scans performed (absence/presence of CCT scan for each patient) in the 48 hours following mTBI.Ethics and disseminationThe protocol presented (Version 5, 03 November 2017) has been approved by the ethics committee Comité de Protection des Personnes sud-est 6 (first approval 08 June 2016, IRB: 00008526). Participation in the study is voluntary and anonymous. The study findings will be disseminated in international peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences.Trial registration numberNCT02819778.


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