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White matter and neurocognitive changes in adults with chronic traumatic brain injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2009

MARY R.T. KENNEDY ,
JEFFREY R. WOZNIAK ,
RYAN L. MUETZEL ,
BRYON A. MUELLER ,
HSIN-HUEI CHIOU ,
KARI PANTEKOEK  and
KELVIN O. LIM
MARY R.T. KENNEDY*
Affiliation:
Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
JEFFREY R. WOZNIAK
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
RYAN L. MUETZEL
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
BRYON A. MUELLER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
HSIN-HUEI CHIOU
Affiliation:
Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
KARI PANTEKOEK
Affiliation:
Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
KELVIN O. LIM
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Mary R.T. Kennedy, Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and The Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Minnesota, 115 Shevlin Hall, 164 Pillsbury Drive S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455. E-mail: kenne047@umn.edu.
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Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging was used to investigate white matter (WM) integrity in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and healthy adults as controls. Adults with TBI had sustained severe vehicular injuries on the average of 7 years earlier. A multivariate analysis of covariance with verbal IQ as the covariate revealed that adults with TBI had lower fractional anisotropy and higher mean diffusivity than controls, specifically in the three regions of interest (ROIs), the centrum semiovale (CS), the superior frontal (SPF), and the inferior frontal (INF). Adults with TBI averaged in the normal range in motor speed and two of three executive functions and were below average in delayed verbal recall and inhibition, whereas controls were above average. Time since injury, but not age, was associated with WM changes in the SPF ROI, whereas age, but not time since injury, was associated with WM changes in the INF ROI, suggesting that the effects of WM on time since injury may interact with age. To understand the utility of WM changes in chronic recovery, larger sample sizes are needed to investigate associations between cognition and WM integrity of severely injured individuals who have substantial cognitive impairment compared to severely injured individuals with little cognitive impairment. (JINS, 2009, 15, 130–136.)

Keywords

Diffusion tensor imagingAnisotropyBrain injuryExecutive functionsCognition

Information

Type
Brief Communications
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 130 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © INS 2009

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