Resting State Functional Connectivity between Dorsal Attentional Network and Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus in Concussed and Control Adolescents

Concussion among adolescents continues to be a public health concern. Yet, the differences in brain function between adolescents with a recent concussion and adolescents with no history of concussion are not well understood. Although resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be a useful tool in examining these differences, few studies have used this technique to examine concussion in adolescents. Here, we investigate the differences in the resting state functional connectivity of 52 adolescents, 38 with a concussion in the previous 10 days (mean age = 15.6; female = 36.8%), and 14 controls with no concussion history (mean age = 15.1; female = 57.1%). Independent component analysis and dual regression revealed that control adolescents had significantly greater functional connectivity between the dorsal attention network (DAN) and right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) compared to concussed adolescents (p-corrected < 0.001). Specifically, there was a positive DAN-RIFG connectivity in control, but not concussed, adolescents. Our findings indicate that concussion is associated with disrupted DAN-RIFG connectivity, which may reflect a general, nonspecific response to injury.

Automated summary

Concussion among adolescents is a public health concern, and the differences in brain function between adolescents with and without a history of concussion are not well understood. This study used resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate these differences and found disrupted functional connectivity between the hippocampal network and the right inferior frontal gyrus in adolescents with concussion.