title: Structural and Functional Integrity of the Intraparietal Sulcus in Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.
abstract: Severe and moderate traumatic brain injury (sTBI) often results in long-term cognitive deficits such as reduced processing speed and attention. The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is a neocortical structure that plays a crucial role in the deeply interrelated processes of multi-sensory processing and top down attention. Therefore, we hypothesized that disruptions in the functional and structural connections of the IPS may play a role in the development of such deficits. To examine these connections, we used resting state magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in a cohort of 27 patients with sTBI (29.3 ± 8.9 years) and 27 control participants (29.8 ± 10.3 years). Participants were prospectively recruited and received rsfMRI and neuropsychological assessments including the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) at greater than 6 months post-injury. A subset of participants received a DKI scan. Results suggest that patients with sTBI performed worse than control participants on multiple subtests of the ANAM suggesting reduced cognitive performance. Reduced resting state functional connectivity between the IPS and cortical regions associated with multi-sensory processing and the dorsal attention network was observed in the patients with sTBI. The patients also showed reduced structural integrity of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), a key white matter tract connecting the IPS to anterior frontal areas, as measured by reduced mean kurtosis (MK) and fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD). Further, this reduced structural integrity of the SLF was associated with a reduction in overall cognitive performance. These findings suggest that disruptions in the structural and functional connectivity of the IPS may contribute to chronic cognitive deficits experienced by these patients.
authors.affiliation: 1 Magnetic Resonance Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.|2 Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Chandler
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sours
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Prashant
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raghavan
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Alexandre E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roys
authors.affiliation: 1 Magnetic Resonance Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.|2 Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: 1 Magnetic Resonance Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.|2 Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Jiachen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.affiliation: 1 Magnetic Resonance Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.|2 Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine , Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Rao P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Gullapalli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: diffusion tensor imaging; functional connectivity; intraparietal sulcus; traumatic brain injury