title: Relationships between acute imaging biomarkers and theory of mind impairment in post-acute pediatric traumatic brain injury: A prospective analysis using susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI).
abstract: Theory of Mind (ToM) forms an integral component of socially skilled behavior, and is critical for attaining developmentally appropriate goals. The protracted development of ToM is mediated by increasing connectivity between regions of the anatomically distributed 'mentalizing network', and may be vulnerable to disruption from pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). The present study aimed to evaluate the post-acute effects of TBI on first-order ToM, and examine relations between ToM and both local and global indices of macrostructural damage detected using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI). 104 children and adolescents with TBI and 43 age-matched typically developing (TD) controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging including a susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) sequence 2-8 weeks post-injury and were assessed on cognitive ToM tasks at 6-months after injury. Compared to TD controls and children with mild-moderate injuries, children with severe TBI showed significantly poorer ToM. Moreover, impairments in ToM were related to diffuse neuropathology, and parietal lobe lesions. Our findings support the vulnerability of the immature social brain network to disruption from TBI, and suggest that global macrostructural damage commonly associated with traumatic axonal injury (TAI) may contribute to structural disconnection of anatomically distributed regions that underlie ToM. This study suggests that SWI may be a valuable imaging biomarker to predict outcome and recovery of social cognition after pediatric TBI.
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: nicholas.ryan@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: Nicholas P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia; Department of Psychology, Royal Children׳s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: cathy.catroppa@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Catroppa
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: janine.cooper@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: Janine M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: richard.beare@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beare
authors.affiliation: Monash Health, Melbourne, Australia; Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: michael.ditchfield@southernhealth.org.au.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ditchfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Royal Children׳s Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: lee.coleman@rch.org.au.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia; Department of Pediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: tim.silk@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Silk
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: louise.crossley@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Crossley
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: kirrilyrogers@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kirrily
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, 6128 Succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal, Canada H3C 3J7; Ste-Justine Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: Miriam.beauchamp@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Miriam H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada AB T2N 1N4. Electronic address: kyeates@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Keith O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Yeates
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052 Melbourne, Australia; Department of Psychology, Royal Children׳s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: vicki.anderson@rch.org.au.
authors.forename: Vicki A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Brain injuries; Child; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neurobiology; Theory of Mind