title: Altered Wiring of the Human Structural Connectome in Adults with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
abstract: In this study, structural connectivity after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) was examined from a network perspective, with a particular focus on post-traumatic complaints. Fifty-three patients with and without self-reported complaints at 2 weeks after uncomplicated mTBI were included, in addition to 20 matched healthy controls. Diffusion weighted imaging was performed at 4 weeks post-injury, and neuropsychological tests measuring processing speed and verbal memory were administered at 3 months post-injury to determine cognitive outcome. Structural connectivity was investigated using whole brain tractography and subsequent graph theory analysis. In patients with mTBI, eigenvector centrality within the left temporal pole was lower than in healthy controls. In patients without complaints, global and mean local efficiency were lower than in patients with complaints, although no differences were found between either subgroup and the group of healthy controls. Neuropsychological test scores were similar for patients with mTBI and healthy controls. However, patients with complaints showed higher processing speed than patients without complaints. Within the total mTBI group, a trend was found toward a correlation between lower network clustering and higher processing speed. Additionally, significant correlations were found between higher betweenness centrality values of language areas and lower verbal memory scores in patients with mTBI. In conclusion, our findings may indicate that global graph measures of the structural connectome are associated with pre- and/or non-injury-related factors that determine the susceptibility to developing (persistent) complaints after mTBI. Further, correlations between graph measures and neuropsychological test scores could suggest early compensatory mechanisms to maintain adequate cognitive performance.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Harm Jan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: van der Horn
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Jelmer G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kok
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Myrthe E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: de Koning
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Neuropsychology of the University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Myrthe E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Scheenen
authors.affiliation: 3 Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht , Utrecht, The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leemans
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Neuropsychology of the University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Jacoba M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Spikman
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Joukje
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Naalt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cognition; diffusion MRI; graph theory; mTBI; networks; post-traumatic complaints; tractography