Brain Function Disruption of Thalamus Related Resting State Networks in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Lin Tang¹, Yulin Ge¹, Daniel K. Sodickson¹, Laura Miles¹, Joseph Reaume¹, Robert I. Grossman¹

This study demonstrates for the first time, disruption of thalamic functional network during resting state in patients with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI). The consistent, clear and homogeneous thalamic functional connectivity maps were shown in healthy volunteers, meanwhile such spontaneous activities have been shown to be significantly increased in patients, and more voxels involved for those patients who performed better in the cognitive exams and shown less clinical symptoms. These suggested that the subtle tissue damage to the thalamus may upregulate the default function in the associative regions of brain in order to compensate for its reduced functionality.