TBI Study Establishes Objective Evidence of Organic Brain Damage Associated With Memory Deficits

Posted by rozeklawoffice on May 2, 2011 under Mild Brain Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury | Be the First to Comment

 

MRI with DTI Can Show Brain DamageA new study co-authored by the internationally renowned brain injury expert, Erin Bigler, Ph.D. of the Department of Psychology & Department of Neuroscience, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah and the Department of Psychiatry and the Utah Brain Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, has been able to objectively identify evidence of structural changes within the brain that account for memory deficits, which are so common following brain injury. The study also provides further support for the validity of the advanced imaging technique, MRI using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), in evidencing organic changes within the brain.

The study, Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Perforant Pathway Zone and Its Relation to Memory Function in Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, will be published in the peer-reviewed May 2011 edition of the Journal of Neurotrauma. The study focused on changes within the following three regions: 1) the Perforant Pathway; 2) Hippocampus; and 3) Temporal Lobe White and Gray Matter. The study utilized 14 severe traumatic brain injury survivors and were compared to imaging from a demographically comparable control group.

The imaging revealed several abnormalities in the brain injury survivors :

  • Perforant Pathway Zone Bilaterally = Decreased Fractional Anisotropy (FA)
  • Perforant Pathway Zone Bilaterally = Higher Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC)
  • Hippocampus Bilaterrally = Higher Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC)
  • Hippocampus Bilaterally = Decreased Volume
  • Temporal Gray Matter = Decreased Volume

Memory deficits, specifically Consistent Long-Term Retrieval (CLTR) and Delayed Recall, were shown to be associated with the following:

  • Perforant Pathway Zone Bilaterally = Higher Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC)
  • Left Hippocampus Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC)
  • Left Hippocampal Volume

Nonverbal Memory, immediate and delayed recall, was associated with the following:

  • Perforant Pathway Zone Bilaterally = Higher Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC)
  • Left Hippocampal Volume
  • Decreased Gray Matter Volume was associated with Immediate Recall
  • Decreased White Matter Volume was associated with Immediate Recall Bilaterally and Delayed Recall, left

Our office has worked with many of the leading neuroradiologists that are capable of performing and interpreting Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), the enhanced imaging technique utilized to prove evidence of brain damage.

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For more information contact an experienced Wisconsin TBI Attorney.

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