Neuroimaging of Brain Injuries and Disorders at Cleveland Clinic.

摘要

Blast injuries are the leading cause of injury in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. It is unknown whether the neural and cognitive sequelae of blast- related traumatic brain injury (TBI) differs from those resulting from mechanically-induced TBI commonly observed in civilian accidents. Understanding the potentially unique sequelae of blast-related TBI is critical for accurate diagnosis and designing effective pharmacological and neurorehabilitation interventions. Functional MRI is an imaging method that detects increases in cerebral blood volume, flow, and oxygenation that occur locally in response to increased neuronal activity. Recent work has shown that fMRI is capable of measuring synchronous spontaneous low-frequency BOLD fluctuations (LFBFs) in the human brain during a state of alert rest. These spontaneous fluctuations are correlated in brain regions with a high degree of connectivity. The LFBF measure of functional connectivity within the brain is proving to be a powerful and sensitive measure of pathology in a number of patient populations that have previously been difficult to study with other imaging methods. We have recently demonstrated that LFBF measured functional connectivity can be combined with a structural measure of connectivity, MRI based diffusion tensor imaging/tractography, to enhance understanding of neuropathology in a patient population (Multiple Sclerosis).