Injury to thalamocortical projections following traumatic brain injury results in attractor dynamics for cortical networks

Mofakham, Sima; Wang, Kun; Hensley, Asher A.; Saadon, Jordan R; Gammel, Theresa; Cosgrove, Megan E.; Adachi, Joseph; Mohammad, Selma; Huang, Chuan; Djurić, Petar M.; Mikell, Charles B.

doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102215

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Resting fMRI connectivity of frontal networks differentiated brain hemorrhage patients who followed commands from those who did not (18). Invasive and scalp recordings of the prefrontal cortex also revealed the emergence of complex cortical activity as patients recovered consciousness and eventually followed commands (19). Small randomized trials support a role for stimulation of prefrontal cortex to improve command-following behavior; a third of patients who responded to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of PFC regained command-following ability (20).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a cohort of these patients, thalamic atrophy was predictive of prolonged unconsciousness (39). Furthermore, structural and functional connectivity between thalamic and prefrontal regions has been shown to correlate with the level of consciousness (19,34,40). Thalamic stimulation has also demonstrated promise in augmenting the level of consciousness in both animal models (41,42) and TBI patients (43,44).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thalamo-Prefrontal Connectivity Correlates With Early Command-Following After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

et al. 2022

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Recovery of consciousness after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is heterogeneous and difficult to predict. Structures such as the thalamus and prefrontal cortex are thought to be important in facilitating consciousness. We sought to investigate whether the integrity of thalamo-prefrontal circuits, assessed via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), was associated with the return of goal-directed behavior after severe TBI. We classified a cohort of severe TBI patients (N = 25, 20 males) into Early and Late/Never outcome groups based on their ability to follow commands within 30 days post-injury. We assessed connectivity between whole thalamus, and mediodorsal thalamus (MD), to prefrontal cortex (PFC) subregions including dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC), medial PFC (mPFC), anterior cingulate (ACC), and orbitofrontal (OFC) cortices. We found that the integrity of thalamic projections to PFC subregions (L OFC, L and R ACC, and R mPFC) was significantly associated with Early command-following. This association persisted when the analysis was restricted to prefrontal-mediodorsal (MD) thalamus connectivity. In contrast, dlPFC connectivity to thalamus was not significantly associated with command-following. Using the integrity of thalamo-prefrontal connections, we created a linear regression model that demonstrated 72% accuracy in predicting command-following after a leave-one-out analysis. Together, these data support a role for thalamo-prefrontal connectivity in the return of goal-directed behavior following TBI.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thalamo-Prefrontal Connectivity Correlates With Early Command-Following After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

et al. 2022

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“…We also found that hippocampal-thalamic connectivity was associated with CVLT. Thalamic projections have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to biomechanical, shear-strain deformation in TBI (Bian & Mao, 2020 ; Cosgrove et al, 2022 ; Dennis et al, 2021 ; Mofakham et al, 2022 ), where even in mild-TBI, diminished integrity of thalamic radiations occurs and relates to behavioral and cognitive outcome (Ware et al, 2020 , 2022 ). The original Papez circuit delineates projections from hippocampus to mammillary bodies via the fornix, then to anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN) of the thalamus, and on to cingulate and posterior parietal cortex, and finally back to the hippocampus through parahippocampal cortex.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-modal MRI of hippocampal morphometry and connectivity after pediatric severe TBI

Guerrero-Gonzalez,

Kirk,

Birn

et al. 2023

Brain Imaging and Behavior

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This investigation explores memory performance using the California Verbal Learning Test in relation to morphometric and connectivity measures of the memory network in severe traumatic brain injury. Twenty-two adolescents with severe traumatic brain injury were recruited for multimodal MRI scanning 1–2 years post-injury at 13 participating sites. Analyses included hippocampal volume derived from anatomical T1-weighted imaging, fornix white matter microstructure from diffusion tensor imaging, and hippocampal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity as well as diffusion-based structural connectivity. A typically developing control cohort of forty-nine age-matched children also underwent scanning and neurocognitive assessment. Results showed hippocampus volume was decreased in traumatic brain injury with respect to controls. Further, hippocampal volume loss was associated with worse performance on memory and learning in traumatic brain injury subjects. Similarly, hippocampal fornix fractional anisotropy was reduced in traumatic brain injury with respect to controls, while decreased fractional anisotropy in the hippocampal fornix also was associated with worse performance on memory and learning in traumatic brain injury subjects. Additionally, reduced structural connectivity of left hippocampus to thalamus and calcarine sulcus was associated with memory and learning in traumatic brain injury subjects. Functional connectivity in the left hippocampal network was also associated with memory and learning in traumatic brain injury subjects. These regional findings from a multi-modal neuroimaging approach should not only be useful for gaining valuable insight into traumatic brain injury induced memory and learning disfunction, but may also be informative for monitoring injury progression, recovery, and for developing rehabilitation as well as therapy strategies.

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“…Notwithstanding, a pattern of metabolic brain activity remains stable in different states of consciousness under the effect of general anesthesia [64][65][66][73][74][75]. The maintenance of this connectivity pattern has been attributed to the anatomical scaffold that remains unchangeable [63,76,77]. Nevertheless, our results show that even after severe brain injury that extinguishes or at least severely impairs consciousness, the electrical activity of neurons remains structured in a very similar functional connectivity pattern as in healthy subjects during wakefulness and sleep, suggesting that the anatomical structures involved in consciousness are not causally involved in the dynamical baseline brain state.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Stationary stable cross-correlation pattern and task specific deviations in unresponsive wakefulness syndrome as well as clinically healthy subjects

Apablaza-Yevenes,

Corsi-Cabrera,

Martinez-Guerrero

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Brain dynamics is highly non-stationary, permanently subject to ever-changing external conditions and continuously monitoring and adjusting internal control mechanisms. Finding stationary structures in this system, as has been done recently, is therefore of great importance for understanding fundamental dynamic trade relationships. Here we analyse electroencephalographic recordings (EEG) of 13 subjects with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) during rest and while being influenced by different acoustic stimuli. We compare the results with a control group under the same experimental conditions and with clinically healthy subjects during overnight sleep. The main objective of this study is to investigate whether a stationary correlation pattern is also present in the UWS group, and if so, to what extent this structure resembles the one found in healthy subjects. Furthermore, we extract transient dynamical features via specific deviations from the stationary interrelation pattern. We find that (i) the UWS group is more heterogeneous than the two groups of healthy subjects, (ii) also the EEGs of the UWS group contain a stationary cross-correlation pattern, although it is less pronounced and shows less similarity to that found for healthy subjects and (iii) deviations from the stationary pattern are notably larger for the UWS than for the two groups of healthy subjects. The results suggest that the nervous system of subjects with UWS receive external stimuli but show an overreaching reaction to them, which may disturb opportune information processing.

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Injury to thalamocortical projections following traumatic brain injury results in attractor dynamics for cortical networks

Cited by 17 publications

References 41 publications

Thalamo-Prefrontal Connectivity Correlates With Early Command-Following After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Thalamo-Prefrontal Connectivity Correlates With Early Command-Following After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Multi-modal MRI of hippocampal morphometry and connectivity after pediatric severe TBI

Stationary stable cross-correlation pattern and task specific deviations in unresponsive wakefulness syndrome as well as clinically healthy subjects

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