Postconcussive symptoms are associated with compensatory cortical recruitment during a working memory task.
BACKGROUND
The severity of sports-related concussion is often characterized by the number and severity of postconcussive symptoms (eg, headache, dizziness, difficulty concentrating). Although the level of postconcussive symptoms after injury is believed to index the severity of the neurological insult sustained, studies examining the relationship between symptom severity and neural functioning in concussed athletes remain rare.


OBJECTIVE
This exploratory study examined the association between self-reported symptom severity and functional activation on a working memory task in a group of 16 recently concussed student athletes.


METHODS
Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine the relationship of symptom severity to brain activation during a working memory task in 16 concussed subjects.


RESULTS
Findings indicated that symptom severity was associated with regionally specific hyperactivation during a working memory task, even though symptom severity was not significantly related to task accuracy.


CONCLUSIONS
The results add to a growing body of literature that demonstrates that functional neuroimaging may have the potential to serve as a sensitive biomarker of the severity of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury.
Pardini
Jamie E
JE
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Pardini
Dustin A
DA
Becker
James T
JT
Dunfee
Kathryn L
KL
Eddy
William F
WF
Lovell
Mark R
MR
Welling
Joel S
JS
D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000150:complications; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
D010100:Oxygen