Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity in Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury

Although resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) has the potential to offer insights into changes in functional connectivity networks after traumatic brain injury (TBI), there are few studies that examine the effects of moderate TBI for monitoring functional recovery in experimental TBI, and thus the neural correlates of brain recovery from moderate TBI remain incompletely understood. Non-invasive rsfMRI was used to longitudinally investigate changes in interhemispheric functional connectivity (IFC) after a moderate TBI to the unilateral sensorimotor cortex in rats (n = 9) up to 14 days. Independent component analysis of the rsfMRI data was performed. Correlations of rsfMRI sensorimotor networks were made with changes in behavioral scores, lesion volume, and T(2)- and diffusion-weighted images across time. TBI animals showed less localized rsfMRI patterns in the sensorimotor network compared to sham (n = 6) and normal (n = 5) animals. rsfMRI clusters in the sensorimotor network showed less bilateral symmetry compared to sham and normal animals, indicative of IFC disruption. With time after injury, many of the rsfMRI patterns in the sensorimotor network showed more bilateral symmetry, indicative of IFC recovery. The disrupted IFC in the sensorimotor and subsequent partial recovery showed a positive correlation with changes in behavioral scores. Overall, rsfMRI detected widespread disruption and subsequent recovery of IFC within the sensorimotor networks post-TBI, which correlated with behavioral changes. Therefore, rsfMRI offers the means to probe functional brain reorganization and thus has the potential to serve as an imaging marker to longitudinally stage TBI and monitor for novel treatments.