title: Neuroimaging and traumatic brain injury: State of the field and voids in translational knowledge.
abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in every developed country in the world and is believed to be a risk factor in the later development of depression, anxiety disorders and neurodegenerative diseases including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). One challenge faced by those who conduct research into TBI is the lack of a verified and validated biomarker that can be used to diagnose TBI or for use as a prognostic variable which can identify those at risk for poor recovery following injury or at risk for neurodegeneration later in life. Neuroimaging continues to hold promise as a TBI biomarker but is limited by a lack of clear relationship between the neuropathology of injury/recovery and the quantitative and image based data that is obtained. Specifically lacking is the data on biochemical and biologic changes that lead to alterations in neuroimaging markers. There are multiple routes towards developing the knowledge required to more definitively link pathology to imaging but the most efficient approach is expanded leveraging of in vivo human blood, serum, and imaging biomarkers with both in vivo and ex vivo animal findings. This review describes the current use and limitations of imaging in TBI including a discussion of currently used animal injury models and the available animal imaging data and extracted markers that hold the greatest promise for helping translate alterations in imaging back to injury pathology. Further, it reviews both the human and animal TBI literature supporting current standards, identifies the remaining voids in the literature, and briefly highlights recent advances in molecular imaging. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Traumatic Brain Injury'.
authors.affiliation: Baylor University, Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Biomedical Studies, The Institute of Ecological, Earth, and Environmental Science, One Bear Place #97266, Waco, TX 76798-7266, United States.
authors.forename: Erica D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, 5701 Airport Road, MS AR D120, Temple, TX 76508, United States.
authors.forename: Sneha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Konda
authors.affiliation: Baylor Scott and White Healthcare, Neuroscience Institute, 5701 Airport Road, MS AR D120, Temple, TX 76508, United States.
authors.forename: Dana D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.affiliation: Baylor Scott and White Healthcare, Neuroscience Institute, 5701 Airport Road, MS AR D120, Temple, TX 76508, United States.
authors.forename: Ernest W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Baylor Scott and White Healthcare, Neuroscience Institute, 5701 Airport Road, MS AR D120, Temple, TX 76508, United States.
authors.forename: Jason H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, 5701 Airport Road, MS AR D120, Temple, TX 76508, United States; Baylor Scott and White Healthcare, Neuroscience Institute, 5701 Airport Road, MS AR D120, Temple, TX 76508, United States. Electronic address: deborahmlittle@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Deborah M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Little
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Biomarkers; Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Neuroimaging; Traumatic brain injury (TBI)