Default mode network connectivity predicts sustained attention deficits after traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) frequently produces impairments of attention in humans. These can result in a failure to maintain consistent goal-directed behavior. A predominantly right-lateralized frontoparietal network is often engaged during attentionally demanding tasks. However, lapses of attenti...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Journal of neuroscience Vol. 31; no. 38; pp. 13442 - 13451
Main Authors:	Bonnelle, Valerie, Leech, Robert, Kinnunen, Kirsi M, Ham, Tim E, Beckmann, Cristian F, De Boissezon, Xavier, Greenwood, Richard J, Sharp, David J
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Society for Neuroscience 21-09-2011
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Anisotropy Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - complications Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - pathology Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology Brain Injuries - complications Brain Injuries - pathology Brain Injuries - physiopathology Brain Mapping - methods Case-Control Studies Choice Behavior - physiology Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods Female Gyrus Cinguli - pathology Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology Humans Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods Male Middle Aged Nerve Fibers, Myelinated - pathology Nerve Fibers, Myelinated - physiology Neural Pathways - pathology Neural Pathways - physiopathology Neuropsychological Tests Parietal Lobe - pathology Parietal Lobe - physiopathology Psychomotor Performance - physiology Reaction Time - physiology
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Traumatic brain injury (TBI) frequently produces impairments of attention in humans. These can result in a failure to maintain consistent goal-directed behavior. A predominantly right-lateralized frontoparietal network is often engaged during attentionally demanding tasks. However, lapses of attention have also been associated with increases in activation within the default mode network (DMN). Here, we study TBI patients with sustained attention impairment, defined on the basis of the consistency of their behavioral performance over time. We show that sustained attention impairments in patients are associated with an increase in DMN activation, particularly within the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, the interaction of the precuneus with the rest of the DMN at the start of the task, i.e., its functional connectivity, predicts which patients go on to show impairments of attention. Importantly, this predictive information is present before any behavioral evidence of sustained attention impairment, and the relationship is also found in a subgroup of patients without focal brain damage. TBI often results in diffuse axonal injury, which produces cognitive impairment by disconnecting nodes in distributed brain networks. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we demonstrate that structural disconnection within the DMN also correlates with the level of sustained attention. These results show that abnormalities in DMN function are a sensitive marker of impairments of attention and suggest that changes in connectivity within the DMN are central to the development of attentional impairment after TBI.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Author contributions: V.B., R.L., X.D.B., and D.J.S. designed research; V.B., K.M.K., and T.E.H. performed research; R.L., C.F.B., and R.J.G. contributed unpublished reagents/analytic tools; V.B. and K.M.K. analyzed data; V.B. and D.J.S. wrote the paper.
ISSN:	0270-6474 1529-2401
DOI:	10.1523/jneurosci.1163-11.2011