Brains reveal amplified plasticity as they recover from an injury. We aimed to define time dependent plasticity changes in patients recovering from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Twenty-five subjects with mild head injury were longitudinally evaluated within 36 h, 3 and 6 months using resting state functional connectivity (RSFC). Region of interest (ROI) based connectivity differences over time within the patient group and in comparison with a healthy control group were analyzed at p < 0.005. We found 33 distinct ROI pairs that revealed significant changes in their connectivity strength with time. Within 3 months, the majority of the ROI pairs had decreased connectivity in mTBI population, which increased and became comparable to healthy controls at 6 months. Within this diffuse decreased connectivity in the first 3 months, there were also few regions with increased connections. This hyper connectivity involved the salience network and default mode network within 36 h, and lingual, inferior frontal and fronto-parietal networks at 3 months. Our findings in a fairly homogenous group of patients with mTBI evaluated during the 6 month window of recovery defines time varying brain connectivity changes as the brain recovers from an injury. A majority of these changes were seen in the frontal and parietal lobes between 3 and 6 months after injury. Hyper connectivity of several networks supported normal recovery in the first 6 months and it remains to be seen in future studies whether this can predict an early and efficient recovery of brain function.

See van Klink and Zijlmans (doi:10.1093/brain/awz321) for a scientific commentary on this article. Velmuruganet al. report that detecting and localizing high‐frequency oscillations (HFOs: 80–200 Hz) with MEG can improve presurgical assessment and postsurgical outcome prediction in epilepsy. Source localization of HFOs identifies an epileptogenic region with accuracy of 75%. When such localized sources are surgically resected, patients have an approximately 80% probability of achieving seizure freedom.

BACKGROUND: Electroencephalogram Neurofeedback therapy (EEG-NFT) has several potential beneficial effects in terms of improving cognition and electrophysiological regulation among patients with brain injury. However, in vivo structural and functional changes remain less explored. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to explore EEG-NFT induced in vivo changes in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. METHOD: Two patients with mean age of 15 years with moderate head injury who had more than seven post concussion symptoms and poor cognitive performances (<5 percentile) were subjected to 20 sessions of EEG-NFT. The neuropsychological test scores, post concussion symptoms and MRI scan of the brain were recorded pre-post to EEG-NFT. RESULTS: During EEG-NFT the cognitive scores and concussion symptoms improved significantly (p < 0.05). The EEG-NFT has shown significant increase in cortical grey matter (GM) volumes (p < 0.0001) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of cortical white matter (WM) tracts (p < 0.0001, voxel max 60 and above). There was a significant decrease in global, local efficiency, cost and clustering coefficient of functional connectivity (Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test p < 0.05). Interestingly there was a significant increase in thalamo-cortical connection (increase FA value) after EEG-NFT. CONCLUSION: The EEG-NFT therapy has shown significant changes in structural and functional connectivity among young moderately injured TBI patients.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an inherited myogenic disorder characterized by progressive muscle wasting. DMD is a fatal X-linked recessive disorder with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 3,500 male live births. This disease has long been associated with intellectual impairment. Research has shown that boys with DMD have variable intellectual performance, indicating the presence of specific cognitive deficits. The aim of the study was to use a battery of intelligence, learning, and memory tests to identify a neuropsychological profile in boys with DMD. A total of 22 boys diagnosed with DMD in the age range of 6 to 10 years old were evaluated using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition, Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test, and the Memory for Designs Test. The data were interpreted using means, standard deviations, percentages, and percentiles. Normative data were also used for further interpretation. The results showed that boys with DMD had a significantly lower IQ (88.5). Verbal IQ (86.59) was found to be lower than Performance IQ (92.64). There was evidence of impaired performance on the Processing Speed, Freedom From Distractibility, and Verbal Comprehension Indexes. Specific deficits in information processing, complex attention, immediate verbal memory span, verbal working memory, verbal comprehension, vocabulary, visuoconstruction ability, and verbal learning and encoding were observed. However, perceptional organization, general fund of information, abstract reasoning, visual discrimination and acuity, visual learning and memory, and verbal memory were adequate. The neuropsychological findings support the hypothesis that these children have specific cognitive deficits as opposed to a global intellectual deficit.

Background. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent childhood disorder with symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. EEG neurofeedback training (NFT) is a new intervention modality based on operant conditioning of brain activity, which helps reduce symptoms of ADHD in children. Methods and Procedures. To examine the efficacy of NFT in children with ADHD, an experimental longitudinal design with pre-post comparison was adopted. A total of 30 children in the age range of 6 to 12 years diagnosed as ADHD with or without comorbid conditions were assigned to treatment group (TG; n = 15) and treatment as usual group (TAU; n = 15). TG received EEG-NFT along with routine clinical management and TAU received routine clinical management alone. Forty sessions of theta/beta NFT at the C3 scalp location, 3 to 4 sessions in a week for a period of 3.5 to 5 months were given to children in TG. Children were screened using sociodemographic data and Binet-Kamat test of intelligence. Pre-and postassessment tools were neuropsychological tests and behavioral scales. Follow-up was carried out on 8 children in TG using parent-rated behavioral measures. Results. Improvement was reported in TG on cognitive functions (sustained attention, verbal working memory, and response inhibition), parent- and teacher-rated behavior problems and on academic performance rated by teachers. Follow-up of children who received NFT showed sustained improvement in ADHD symptoms when assessed 6 months after receiving NFT. Conclusion. The present study suggests that NFT is an effective method to enhance cognitive deficits and helps reduce ADHD symptoms and behavior problems. Consequently, academic performance was found to be improved in children with ADHD. Improvement in ADHD symptoms induced by NFT were maintained at 6-month follow-up in children with ADHD.