Citation

Falletta Caravasso C, de Pasquale F, Ciurli P, Catani S, Formisano R, Sabatini U. J. Neurotrauma 2015; 33(13): 1247-1262.

Affiliation

IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Radiology, Rome, Italy ; u.sabatini@hsantalucia.it.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2015.4003

PMID

26559732

Abstract

To study the functional connectivity in severe acquired brain injury patients is very challenging for their high level of disability due to a prolonged period of coma, extended lesions, and several cognitive and behavioral disorders. In this work, we investigated in these patients, the Default Mode Network and Somatomotor connectivity changes at rest longitudinally, in the subacute and late phase after brain injury. The aim of the study is to characterize such connectivity patterns and relate the observed changes to clinical and neuropsychological outcomes of these patients after a period of intensive neuro-rehabilitation. Our findings show within the Default Mode Network a disruption of connectivity of medial prefrontal regions and a significant change of amplitude of internal connections. Notably, strongest changes in functional connectivity significantly correlated to consistent clinical and cognitive recovery. This evidence seems to indicate that the re-organization of the Default mode network may represent a valid biomarker for the cognitive recovery in severe acquired brain injury patients.

Language: en