Abstract #3421
Abnormalities of the Attentional Network Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Pediatric Patients: A fMRI Study
Paola Valsasina 1 , Maria A. Rocca 1 , Sandra Strazzer 2 , Ermelinda De Meo 1 , Erika Molteni 2 , Monica Recla 2 , Susanna Galbiati 2 , Alessandra Bardoni 2 , Giancarlo Comi 3 , and Massimo Filippi 1
1
Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of
Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific
Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan,
MI, Italy,
2
Sci. Inst. IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio
Parini, LC, Italy,
3
Department
of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute,
Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy
Aim of this study was to explore abnormalities of
functional MRI (fMRI) activity during a sustained
attention task in pediatric patients with traumatic
brain injury (TBI). FMRI scans were acquired from 22
pediatric TBI patients and 7 healthy controls during the
Conners Continuous Performance Test. Compared with
controls, patients had a significantly broader pattern
of fMRI activation in frontal, parietal and temporal
regions; however, contrary to controls, they failed to
increase activity in occipito-temporal areas with
increasing task difficulty. The abnormal recruitment of
the attentional network might contribute to explain the
attentional deficits frequently observed in pediatric
TBI.
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