Right frontal pole cortical thickness and executive functioning in children with traumatic brain injury: the impact on social problems

Levan, Ashley; Black, Garrett; Mietchen, Jonathan; Baxter, Leslie C.; Kirwan, C. Brock; Gale, Shawn D.

doi:10.1007/s11682-015-9472-7

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The opposite differences in MFT‐BRIEF correlation and MTT‐BRIEF correlation between adolescents with and without TBI were significant. At least trend‐wise, we speculated with caution that a traumatized thinner prefrontal and temporal cortex contributes to an impaired executive functioning in adolescents with TBI, which is in accordance with some previous studies …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…At least trend-wise, we speculated with caution that a traumatized thinner prefrontal and temporal cortex contributes to an impaired executive functioning in adolescents with TBI, which is in accordance with some previous studies. 12,23 In conclusion, we investigated the impact of a moderate to severe TBI on the prefrontal and temporal cortex in adolescents, by measuring cortical thickness and correlating it with age, time since injury, and neurocognitive performance. The strength of the present study is the homogeneity of the candidates, with regards to age, injury mechanism, type of brain lesion, and recovery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Prefrontal and temporal cortical thickness in adolescents with traumatic brain injury

Linden

Verhelst

Verleysen

et al. 2018

Develop Med Child Neuro

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim To investigate the impact of traumatic injury on the developing prefrontal‐temporal adolescent cortex, and correlated brain structural measures with neurocognitive functioning. Method Nineteen adolescents (12 males, 7 females, age range: 11–17y, mean 15y 8mo, standard deviation 1y 7mo, median 15y 11mo) with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were included. Cortical thickness of frontal and temporal lobes was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging. We correlated cortical thickness of prefrontal‐temporal regions with age, time since injury, and neurocognitive functioning, and compared these results with a matched control cohort without TBI. Results We found thinner prefrontal (p=0.039) and temporal cortices (p=0.002) in adolescents with TBI compared to typically developing children. Furthermore, significant age effect was observed on the prefrontal (r=−0.75, p=0.003) and temporal (r=−0.66, p=0.013) cortical thickness in typically developing adolescents, but not in adolescents with TBI. Executive function (measured using the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function questionnaire, with lower scores meaning higher functioning) was correlated with prefrontal cortical thickness in typically developing adolescents (r=0.72, p=0.009). Opposite trends were found for correlations between cortical thickness and executive function in the TBI and control cohort. Interpretation Structural maturation in typically developing adolescents correlates with functional development: the older the adolescent, the thinner the prefrontal cortex, the better executive function. In adolescents with TBI we observed an opposite trend, that appeared significantly different from the control group: the thinner the prefrontal and temporal cortex, the worse executive functioning. What this paper adds Cortical thickness is negatively correlated with age in typically developing adolescents. Prefrontal cortex thickness correlates negatively with executive function in typically developing adolescents. Correlations between cortical thickness and executive functioning rise for adolescents without traumatic brain injury (TBI). Correlations between cortical thickness and executive functioning fall for adolescents with TBI. Adolescents with TBI have a long‐term impairment of adaptive functioning in daily living.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prefrontal and temporal cortical thickness in adolescents with traumatic brain injury

Linden

Verhelst

Verleysen

et al. 2018

Develop Med Child Neuro

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The observed neural correlates of reduced depressive symptoms in prefrontal regions (Figures 3 and 4) may be relevant in this regard. The frontopolar region is involved in social judgment and behavior (Cicerone, Levin, Malec, Stuss, & Whyte, 2006), and thinner cortex in this region leads to problematic social behavior of children with TBI (Levan et al, 2016). The VLPFC is associated with social exclusion (Eisenberger, Lieberman, & Williams, 2003) and has been linked to social problem-solving capability (Barbey et al, 2014).…”

Section: Explaining Reduced Depressive Symptom Severitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural correlates of reduced depressive symptoms following cognitive training for chronic traumatic brain injury

Han

Martínez

Chapman

et al. 2018

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Depression is the most frequent comorbid psychiatric condition among individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Yet, little is known about changes in the brain associated with reduced depressive symptoms following rehabilitation for TBI. We identified whether cognitive training alleviates comorbid depressive symptoms in chronic TBI (>6 months post‐injury) as a secondary effect. Further, we elucidated neural correlates of alleviated depressive symptoms following cognitive training. A total of seventy‐nine individuals with chronic TBI (53 depressed and 26 non‐depressed individuals, measured using the Beck Depressive Inventory [BDI]), underwent either strategy‐ or information‐based cognitive training in a small group for 8 weeks. We measured psychological functioning scores, cortical thickness, and resting‐state functional connectivity (rsFC) for these individuals before training, immediately post‐training, and 3 months post‐training. After confirming that changes in BDI scores were independent of training group affiliation, we identified that the depressive‐symptoms group showed reductions in BDI scores over time relative to the non‐depressed TBI controls (p < .01). Within the depressive‐symptoms group, reduced BDI scores was associated with improvements in scores for post‐traumatic stress disorder, TBI symptom awareness, and functional status (p < .00625), increases in cortical thickness in four regions within the right prefrontal cortex (p vertex < .01, p cluster<.05), and decreases in rsFC with each of these four prefrontal regions (p vertex < .01, p cluster < .0125). Overall, these findings suggest that cognitive training can reduce depressive symptoms in TBI even when the training does not directly target psychiatric symptoms. Importantly, cortical thickness and brain connectivity may offer promising neuroimaging markers of training‐induced improvement in mental health status in TBI.

show abstract

“…29,30 This anatomical asymmetry may make the right frontal pole more susceptible to concussions. Bolstering this theory, developmental studies have found that right frontal regions are particularly sensitive to brain injury in early childhood, 31 a period marked by critical maturation of the frontal lobes. Some have speculated that cognitive and behavioral issues that arise later in development may be traced back to these early injuries, 31 further raising questions regarding the transient nature of biopsychosocial sequelae immediately following mTBI.…”

Section: Brain Architecture In Remote Mtbimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bolstering this theory, developmental studies have found that right frontal regions are particularly sensitive to brain injury in early childhood, 31 a period marked by critical maturation of the frontal lobes. Some have speculated that cognitive and behavioral issues that arise later in development may be traced back to these early injuries, 31 further raising questions regarding the transient nature of biopsychosocial sequelae immediately following mTBI. Along these lines, it is possible that the mTBI participants recruited in this study suffered their first concussion at a stage where their brains were still developing.…”

Section: Brain Architecture In Remote Mtbimentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Brain Architecture in Remote Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Rajesh

Cooke

Monti

et al. 2017

Journal of Neurotrauma

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is brain trauma from an external impact with a loss of consciousness less than 30 min. Mild TBI results in several biopsychosocial impairments, with pronounced cognitive deficits thought to resolve within 3 months of injury. Previous research suggests that these impairments are due to a temporary inability to appropriately allocate neural resources in response to cognitive demands. Our study questioned this assumption and instead hypothesized that mTBI was associated with long-term neural disruptions and compromised brain structure integrity. By extension, we investigated the likelihood that functional restitution and cognitive resolution following mTBI may be due to some form of neurofunctional reorganization. To this end, we examined abnormalities in resting state functional connectivity and structure (volume, thickness, and fractional anisotropy) in two groups of mTBI-those with 1-10 years time post-injury (mTBI), and those with 20-65 years time post-injury, relative to age-, sex-, and education-matched controls. We observed abnormalities in brain architecture only in the mTBI group, characterized by functional hypo-activation in the right frontal pole, smaller frontal pole volume, and lesser fractional anisotropy in the genu of the corpus callosum that extended near the right frontal pole. This frontal region is laterally specialized to regulate function specific to socio-emotional processes. Collectively, neural disruptions and structural insult in mTBI may persist up to 10 years following injury, but injury-related pathology may resolve with longer recovery time. Disruption to frontal-dependent function that supports socio-emotional processes also may interfere with cognitive functioning, as in the case of chronic mTBI.

show abstract

Right frontal pole cortical thickness and executive functioning in children with traumatic brain injury: the impact on social problems

Cited by 19 publications

References 43 publications

Prefrontal and temporal cortical thickness in adolescents with traumatic brain injury

Prefrontal and temporal cortical thickness in adolescents with traumatic brain injury

Neural correlates of reduced depressive symptoms following cognitive training for chronic traumatic brain injury

Differences in Brain Architecture in Remote Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About