Citation

Rowland JA, Stapleton-Kotloski J, Martindale SL, Rogers E, Ord A, Godwin D, Taber KH. J. Neurotrauma 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2020.7450

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common condition in post-deployment service members (SM). SMs of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan also frequently experience traumatic brain injury (TBI) and exposure to blasts during deployments. This study evaluated the effect of these conditions and experiences on functional brain connectomes in post-deployment, combat-exposed veterans. Functional brain connectomes were created using five-minute resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. Well-established clinical interviews determined current PTSD diagnosis as well as deployment-acquired mild TBI and history of exposure to blast. Linear regression examined the effect of these conditions on functional brain connectomes beyond covariates. There were significant interactions between blast-related mild TBI and PTSD after correction for multiple comparisons including: number of nodes (non-standardized parameter estimate (PE) = -12.47), average degree (PE = 0.05), and connection strength (PE = 0.05). A main effect of blast-related mild TBI was observed on the threshold level. These results demonstrate a distinct functional connectome presentation associated with the presence of both blast-related mild TBI and PTSD. These findings suggest the possibility that blast-related mild TBI alterations in functional brain connectomes affect the presentation of or the progression of recovery from PTSD. The current results offer mixed support for hyper-connectivity in the chronic phase of deployment TBI.

Language: en

Keywords

MILITARY INJURY; TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY; ADULT BRAIN INJURY