Borich Michael, Babul Aliya-Nur, Yuan Po Hsiang, Boyd Lara, Virji-Babul Naznin
1 Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia , Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
J Neurotrauma. 2015 Feb 15;32(4):265-71. doi: 10.1089/neu.2013.3269. Epub 2014 Nov 25.
Sports-related concussion in adolescents is a major public health issue; however, little is known about the underlying changes in functional brain connectivity. We evaluated connectivity of resting-state brain networks to determine whether alterations in specific networks distinguish adolescents with sports-related concussion from a group of healthy, active control adolescents. Twelve adolescents with a clinical diagnosis of subacute concussion and ten healthy adolescents matched for age, gender, and physical activity completed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Functional connectivity of resting-state brain networks was evaluated in both groups using probabilistic independent component analysis (ICA). Altered functional connectivity was found within three resting-state networks in adolescents with concussion. Specifically, we noted: a) alterations within the default mode network; b) increased connectivity in the right frontal pole in the executive function network; and c) increased connectivity in the left frontal operculum cortex associated with the ventral attention network. This preliminary report shows that whole-brain functional connectivity is altered in networks related to cognition and attention in adolescents in the subacute phase following sports-related concussion. This first report in adolescents should be used to inform future studies in larger cohorts of adolescents with sports-related concussion. Increased knowledge of these changes may lead to improvements in clinical management and help to develop rehabilitation programs.
青少年与运动相关的脑震荡是一个重大的公共卫生问题；然而，对于功能性脑连接的潜在变化知之甚少。我们评估了静息态脑网络的连接性，以确定特定网络的改变是否能将患有与运动相关脑震荡的青少年与一组健康、活跃的对照青少年区分开来。12名临床诊断为亚急性脑震荡的青少年和10名年龄、性别及身体活动相匹配的健康青少年完成了功能磁共振成像（fMRI）扫描。两组均使用概率独立成分分析（ICA）评估静息态脑网络的功能连接性。在患有脑震荡的青少年中，发现三个静息态网络内的功能连接发生改变。具体而言，我们注意到：a）默认模式网络内的改变；b）执行功能网络中右侧额极的连接性增加；c）与腹侧注意网络相关的左侧额盖皮质的连接性增加。这份初步报告表明，在与运动相关脑震荡后的亚急性期，青少年中与认知和注意相关的网络中的全脑功能连接发生了改变。青少年中的这份首份报告应用于为未来对更大规模患有与运动相关脑震荡青少年队列的研究提供信息。对这些变化的更多了解可能会改善临床管理，并有助于制定康复计划。
