We used fMRI to map BOLD responses to breath-by-breath O2-CO2 exchange ratio (bER) under breath hold protocol for patients with persistent symptoms from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Comparing to controls, reduced cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to bER was reported for patients in insula, anterior cingulate, nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area, basically regions which overlapped with the dopamine pathway. The mean resting bER decreased with increased symptom severity indicated by burden scores. Our findings are consistent with impaired dopamine pathway reported for TBI patients and show the success of using bER to evaluate CVR to breath hold.
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