The evolution of white matter microstructural changes after mild traumatic brain injury: A longitudinal DTI and NODDI study

This study investigates white matter changes after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) using advanced neuroimaging techniques called DTI and NODDI. The study found that early after mTBI, there's an increase in 'free water' in the brain, which could indicate inflammation. Over a longer period, there's a decrease in axonal density, suggesting damage to nerve fibers. NODDI was found to be more sensitive than DTI in detecting these changes, suggesting it could be a better tool for diagnosing and monitoring mTBI.

• 1
  Early lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and neurite density index (NDI), and early higher mean diffusivity (MD) and free water fraction (FISO) were observed in mTBI patients compared to controls.
• 2
  Longitudinal white matter changes in mTBI were characterized by decreases in NDI and FISO over time.
• 3
  Reduced orientation dispersion index (ODI) was observed in patients with mTBI without symptomatic or cognitive improvement.