title: Injury of the Thalamocingulate Tract in the Papez Circuit in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
abstract: The thalamocingulate tract between the anterior thalamic nuclei and the cingulate gyrus is a part of the Papez circuit. Using diffusion tensor tractography, injury of the thalamocingulate tract was investigated in patients with mild traumatic brain injury. Two patients (patient 1: a 58-yr-old woman and patient 2: a 49-yr-old man) with head trauma resulting from a car accident were enrolled. They were classified as mild traumatic brain injury and no specific lesion was observed on brain magnetic resonance imaging. These patients complained of memory impairment after head trauma. The entire Papez circuits, including thalamocingulate tract, fornix, mammillothalamic tract, and cingulum, were reconstructed in both hemispheres except for the left thalamocingulate tract: patient 1, it was thinner and discontinued compared with the right thalamocingulate tract; and patient 2, it was not reconstructed. The injury of the left thalamocingulate tract appeared to be related to the memory impairment in these patients.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, Ulsan, Republic of Korea (DSY); and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu, Republic of Korea (HGK, SHJ).
authors.forename: Dong Seok
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hyeok Gyu
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000293:injuries; D013788:Thalamus / Q000293:injuries*