More Like this

1. Impaired visual working memory and reduced connectivity in undergraduates with a history of mild traumatic brain injury

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-80995-1  

   Arciniega, Hector; Shires, Jorja; Furlong, Sarah; Kilgore-Gomez, Alexandrea; Cerreta, Adelle; Murray, Nicholas G.; Berryhill, Marian E. (December 2021, Scientific Reports)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion, accounts for 85% of all TBIs. Yet survivors anticipate full cognitive recovery within several months of injury, if not sooner, dependent upon the specific outcome/measure. Recovery is variable and deficits in executive function, e.g., working memory (WM) can persist years post-mTBI. We tested whether cognitive deficits persist in otherwise healthy undergraduates, as a conservative indicator for mTBI survivors at large. We collected WM performance (change detection, n-back tasks) using various stimuli (shapes, locations, letters; aurally presented numbers and letters), and wide-ranging cognitive assessments (e.g., RBANS). We replicated the observation of a general visual WM deficit, with preserved auditory WM. Surprisingly, visual WM deficits were equivalent in participants with a history of mTBI (mean 4.3 years post-injury) and in undergraduates with recent sports-related mTBI (mean 17 days post-injury). In seeking the underlying mechanism of these behavioral deficits, we collected resting state fMRI (rsfMRI) and EEG (rsEEG). RsfMRI revealed significantly reduced connectivity within WM-relevant networks (default mode, central executive, dorsal attention, salience), whereas rsEEG identified no differences (modularity, global efficiency, local efficiency). In summary, otherwise healthy current undergraduates with a history of mTBI present behavioral deficits with evidence of persistent disconnection long after full recovery is expected. 

   more » « less
2. Loss of consciousness, but not etiology, predicts better working memory performance years after concussion

   https://doi.org/10.18053/jctres.05.2020S4.003  

   Hector Arciniega, Alexandrea Kilgore-Gomez (January 2020, Journal of Clinical and Translational Research)

   null (Ed.)

   Background: Patients with uncomplicated cases of concussion are thought to fully recover within several months as symptoms resolve. However, at the group level, undergraduates reporting a history of concussion (mean: 4.14 years post-injury) show lasting deficits in visual working memory performance. To clarify what predicts long-term visual working memory outcomes given heterogeneous performance across group members, we investigated factors surrounding the injury, including gender, number of mild traumatic brain injuries, time since mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), loss of consciousness (LOC) (yes, no), and mTBI etiology (non-sport, team sport, high impact sport, and individual sport). We also collected low-density resting state electroencephalogram to test whether spectral power was correlated with performance. Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify predictors for poor visual working memory outcomes in current undergraduates with a history of concussion. Methods: Participants provided a brief history of their injury and symptoms. Participants also completed an experimental visual working memory task. Finally, low-density resting-state electroencephalogram was collected. Results: The key observation was that LOC at the time of injury predicted superior visual working memory years later. In contrast, visual working memory performance was not predicted by other factors, including etiology, high impact sports, or electroencephalogram spectral power. Conclusions: Visual working memory deficits are apparent at the group level in current undergraduates with a history of concussion. LOC at the time of concussion predicts less impaired visual working memory performance, whereas no significant links were associated with other factors. One interpretation is that after LOC, patients are more likely to seek medical advice than without LOC. Relevance for patients: Concussion is a head injury associated with future cognitive changes in some people. Concussion should be taken seriously, and medical treatment sought whenever a head injury occurs. 

   more » « less
3. The Effects of Concussion Can Be Long-Lasting

   https://doi.org/10.3389/frym2020.00057  

   Alexandrea Kilgore-Gomez, Hector Arciniega (April 2020, Frontiers for young minds)

   null (Ed.)

   Have you ever felt “groggy” after hitting your head? We are learning more about how important it is to protect your brain from injuries, such as concussion. Concussion is also called mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). After an mTBI, most people think patients recover within a few weeks. We noticed that some college students who had had an mTBI were struggling to remember information for a few seconds. This ability is called working memory and we need it for most thinking jobs, like remembering the name of someone you just met, or what you wanted to get from the fridge. In our experiments, we tested different groups of students to see if they could remember things for 1 s, like the color of squares. Participants with a history of mTBI (on average, more than 4 years after injury) performed worse than students without a history of mTBI. The take-home message is that there can be lasting effects of mTBI, even years after it happens. 

   more » « less
4. EEG hyperscanning in motor rehabilitation: a position paper

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-021-00892-6  

   Short, Matthew R.; Hernandez-Pavon, Julio C.; Jones, Alyssa; Pons, Jose L. (December 2021, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Studying the human brain during interpersonal interaction allows us to answer many questions related to motor control and cognition. For instance, what happens in the brain when two people walking side by side begin to change their gait and match cadences? Adapted from the neuroimaging techniques used in single-brain measurements, hyperscanning (HS) is a technique used to measure brain activity from two or more individuals simultaneously. Thus far, HS has primarily focused on healthy participants during social interactions in order to characterize inter-brain dynamics. Here, we advocate for expanding the use of this electroencephalography hyperscanning (EEG-HS) technique to rehabilitation paradigms in individuals with neurological diagnoses, namely stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and traumatic brain injury (TBI). We claim that EEG-HS in patient populations with impaired motor function is particularly relevant and could provide additional insight on neural dynamics, optimizing rehabilitation strategies for each individual patient. In addition, we discuss future technologies related to EEG-HS that could be developed for use in the clinic as well as technical limitations to be considered in these proposed settings. 

   more » « less
5. Use of Brain Biomechanical Models for Monitoring Impact Exposure in Contact Sports

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-022-02999-w  

   Ji, Songbai; Ghajari, Mazdak; Mao, Haojie; Kraft, Reuben H.; Hajiaghamemar, Marzieh; Panzer, Matthew B.; Willinger, Remy; Gilchrist, Michael D.; Kleiven, Svein; Stitzel, Joel D. (November 2022, Annals of Biomedical Engineering)

   Abstract Head acceleration measurement sensors are now widely deployed in the field to monitor head kinematic exposure in contact sports. The wealth of impact kinematics data provides valuable, yet challenging, opportunities to study the biomechanical basis of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and subconcussive kinematic exposure. Head impact kinematics are translated into brain mechanical responses through physics-based computational simulations using validated brain models to study the mechanisms of injury. First, this article reviews representative legacy and contemporary brain biomechanical models primarily used for blunt impact simulation. Then, it summarizes perspectives regarding the development and validation of these models, and discusses how simulation results can be interpreted to facilitate injury risk assessment and head acceleration exposure monitoring in the context of contact sports. Recommendations and consensus statements are presented on the use of validated brain models in conjunction with kinematic sensor data to understand the biomechanics of mTBI and subconcussion. Mainly, there is general consensus that validated brain models have strong potential to improve injury prediction and interpretation of subconcussive kinematic exposure over global head kinematics alone. Nevertheless, a major roadblock to this capability is the lack of sufficient data encompassing different sports, sex, age and other factors. The authors recommend further integration of sensor data and simulations with modern data science techniques to generate large datasets of exposures and predicted brain responses along with associated clinical findings. These efforts are anticipated to help better understand the biomechanical basis of mTBI and improve the effectiveness in monitoring kinematic exposure in contact sports for risk and injury mitigation purposes. 

   more » « less