1 Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
ASN Neuro. 2018 Jan-Dec;10:1759091417753802. doi: 10.1177/1759091417753802.
Sports-related concussion in youth is a major public health issue. Evaluating the diffuse and often subtle changes in structure and function that occur in the brain, particularly in this population, remains a significant challenge. The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate the relationship between the intrinsic dynamics of the brain using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and relate these findings to structural brain correlates from diffusion tensor imaging in a group of adolescents with sports-related concussions ( n = 6) and a group of healthy adolescent athletes ( n = 6). We analyzed rs-fMRI data using a sliding windows approach and related the functional findings to structural brain correlates by applying graph theory analysis to the diffusion tensor imaging data. Within the resting-state condition, we extracted three separate brain states in both groups. Our analysis revealed that the brain dynamics in healthy adolescents was characterized by a dynamic pattern, shifting equally between three brain states; however, in adolescents with concussion, the pattern was more static with a longer time spent in one brain state. Importantly, this lack of dynamic flexibility in the concussed group was associated with increased nodal strength in the left middle frontal gyrus, suggesting reorganization in a region related to attention. This preliminary report shows that both the intrinsic brain dynamics and structural organization are altered in networks related to attention in adolescents with concussion. This first report in adolescents will be used to inform future studies in a larger cohort.
青少年与运动相关的脑震荡是一个主要的公共卫生问题。评估大脑中出现的弥漫性且常常是微妙的结构和功能变化，特别是在这一人群中，仍然是一个重大挑战。本初步研究的目的是评估使用静息态功能磁共振成像 (rs-fMRI) 评估大脑固有动力学的关系，并将这些发现与来自扩散张量成像的结构脑相关性联系起来，研究对象是一组患有运动相关脑震荡的青少年 (n=6) 和一组健康的青少年运动员 (n=6)。我们使用滑动窗口方法分析 rs-fMRI 数据，并通过将图论分析应用于扩散张量成像数据，将功能发现与结构脑相关性联系起来。在静息状态下，我们在两组中提取了三个不同的大脑状态。我们的分析表明，健康青少年的大脑动力学特征是动态模式，在三个大脑状态之间均等转换；然而，在脑震荡的青少年中，模式更静态，在一个大脑状态中停留的时间更长。重要的是，在脑震荡组中缺乏这种动态灵活性与左额中回的节点强度增加有关，表明与注意力相关的区域存在重组。本初步报告表明，与注意力相关的网络中，脑震荡青少年的内在大脑动力学和结构组织都发生了改变。这是在青少年中进行的首次报告，将用于为更大队列的未来研究提供信息。
