Comparison in Regional Cerebral Blood Flow for Individuals with and without a History of Diagnosed Brain Trauma

Abstract Objective: To identify regions of the brain with disrupted regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) resulting from brain trauma. Method: Participants (N=15,365) were selected from a deidentified adult clinical outpatient database. Participants were divided into those with diagnosed brain trauma (n=6,736, 65.5% male, Mage=40.12, and 67.9% white) and those without diagnosed brain trauma (n=8,629, 57% male, Mage=39.74, and 63.5% white). Those with comorbid diagnosis were included. Groups differed significantly for gender (χ2(1)=118.322) and race (χ2(15)=47.994). ANCOVAs were utilized to test the difference between groups on rCBF during a concentration task controlling for significant covariates. Results: Individuals with diagnosed brain trauma had significantly lower levels of rCBF in the left limbic region F(1,15365)=10.510, p=.001; frontal regions [left F(1,15365)=29.487, p<.001; right F(1, 15365)= 12.399, p<.001]; motor sensory regions [left F(1, 15365)= 15.286, p<.001; right F(1,15365)=11.485, p<.00] during the concentration task. Individuals with diagnosed brain trauma had significantly higher levels of rCBF in the cerebellum regions [left F(1,15365)=14.413, p<.001; right F(1,15365)=13.139, p<.001]; occipital regions [left F(1,15365)=7.388, p=.007; right F(1,15365)=8.074, p=.004] during the concentration task. No significant differences existed in right limbic region, the basal ganglia, parietal regions, temporal regions, nor vermis. Conclusions: Individuals with brain trauma exhibited lower rCBF in frontal, motor, and left limbic regions. Lower rCBF in these regions are associated with an increase in difficulties with executive functioning, movement, planning, memory, sensory processing, and emotional regulation. Individuals with brain trauma may therefore struggle with aspects of daily living. Limitations include lack of information on mechanism of injury, location of injury, and time of injury and testing.