Resting State FMRI Reveals Altered Functional Connectivity in Cortical and Subcortical Networks One Month After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Yi-Ou Li¹, Sara LaHue¹, ², Roger Chen¹, Shelly Cooper¹, ², John Yue¹, ², Geoffrey Manley², Pratik Mukherjee¹

Based on current studies of functional connectivity after traumatic brain injury (TBI), we focus on 14 brain regions and apply seed region correlation analysis to the resting state fMRI of 51 mild brain trauma patients one month after injury and 45 demographically matched healthy controls. The statistical tests on the brain connectivity maps reveal reduced functional connectivity of multiple networks, most prominently the default mode network and hippocampus; however, connectivity is increased in a motor-SMA network that includes the dACC. These initial results demonstrate that resting state fMRI has promise as an imaging biomarker for clinical outcome after mild TBI.