Metabolite Changes in Anatomical Substructures of the Brain Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Varan Govind¹, Sulaiman Sheriff¹, Gaurav Saigal¹, Leo Harris², Andrew A. Maudsley¹

Whole-brain proton MRSI data from 39 subjects with mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 88 age-matched controls were analyzed using a brain atlas to evaluate metabolite alterations in 28 bilateral anatomical substructures including cingulum, hippocampus, basal ganglia and thalamus. Results indicate that significant changes in N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and Choline/NAA ratio occurred in these structures following TBI. Metabolite information from such anatomical substructures in the brain will help to evaluate associations between the metabolite alterations and cognitive deficits seen in a subgroup of subjects with TBI.