Publication Type Academic Article
Authors Kim N, Jamison K, Jaywant A, Garetti J, Blunt E, RoyChoudhury A, Butler T, Dams-O'Connor K, Khedr S, Chen C, Shetty T, Winchell R, Hill N, Schiff N, Kuceyeski A, Shah S
Journal Neuroimage
Volume 274
Pagination 120126
Date Published 04/30/2023
ISSN 1095-9572
Keywords Brain Injuries, Traumatic, Executive Function, Healthy Aging
Abstract Executive attention impairments are a persistent and debilitating consequence of traumatic brain injury (TBI). To make headway towards treating and predicting outcomes following heterogeneous TBI, cognitive impairment specific pathophysiology first needs to be characterized. In a prospective observational study, we measured EEG during the attention network test aimed at detecting alerting, orienting, executive attention and processing speed. The sample (N = 110) of subjects aged 18-86 included those with and without traumatic brain injury: n = 27, complicated mild TBI; n = 5, moderate TBI; n = 10, severe TBI; n = 63, non-brain-injured controls. Subjects with TBI had impairments in processing speed and executive attention. Electrophysiological markers of executive attention processing in the midline frontal regions reveal that, as a group, those with TBI and elderly non-brain-injured controls have reduced responses. We also note that those with TBI and elderly controls have responses that are similar for both low and high-demand trials. In subjects with moderate-severe TBI, reductions in frontal cortical activation and performance profiles are both similar to that of controls who are ∼4 to 7 years older. Our specific observations of frontal response reductions in subjects with TBI and in older adults is consistent with the suggested role of the anterior forebrain mesocircuit as underlying cognitive impairments. Our results provide novel correlative data linking specific pathophysiological mechanisms underlying domain-specific cognitive deficits following TBI and with normal aging. Collectively, our findings provide biomarkers that may serve to track therapeutic interventions and guide development of targeted therapeutics following brain injuries.
DOI 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120126
PubMed ID 37191655
PubMed Central ID PMC10286242
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