# CTBI: Traumatic brain injury-induced inflammation effects on cognitive evaluations and response inhibition: Mechanisms of increased risk forsuicidality

> **NIH VA I01** · JAMES J PETERS VA  MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · —

## Abstract

This Merit proposal is part of a BLR&D Collaborative Merit Award for TBI (CTBI) proposal (RFP #BX-19-
006) involving three separate but integrated proposals that together investigate the mechanisms by which TBI
enhances impulsivity and suicidal behavior in Veterans. The rationale for the collaborative project is to combine
neurobiological mechanistic studies in animals with human imaging and biomarker analysis to understand the
manner in which TBI influences impulsivity and suicidal behavior. The overarching hypothesis is that TBI
enhances impulsivity, a risk factor for suicide particularly in response to stress, through inflammation and
dysfunction of the serotonin system and frontal lobe circuitry.
 Recent research increasingly highlights mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) as a risk factor for suicidal
thoughts and behaviors, including death by suicide. A study by Co-I Brenner found that Veterans with mTBI
died by suicide at 1.8 the rate of the general Veteran population. The elevated suicide risk in Veterans with TBI
is also consistent with previous research in civilians. Nevertheless, the study of suicide among those with mTBI
is limited and there exists minimal understanding of the mechanism underlying this enhanced suicide risk in
mTBI. There is a growing appreciation of the role of dysfunction in the circuits and white matter tracts
underlying decision making in individuals with mTBI and history of a suicide attempt. However, neuroimaging
studies examining the intersection of suicidal behavior and mTBI are limited. Moreover, how impulsivity and
mTBI influences the development of suicidal behavior is also unclear. This project aims to address this gap
with a neuroimaging project examining facets of impulsivity in Veterans with mTBI and a suicide attempt
history.
 The James J. Peters VA (JJPVA) site proposes to investigate in male and female OEF/OIF/OND Veterans
(n=140), the relationship of cognitive and behavioral impulsivity using a 2 (mTBI+/-) x 2 (history of suicide
attempt (SA)+/-) design approach. Specifically, we will be examining four groups of Veterans: mTBI+/ SA+,
mTBI+/SA-, mTBI-/SA+ and mTBI-/SA-. This project complements the animal studies being conducted at the
New Jersey VA site by utilizing the same paradigms in humans during fMRI: the Go/No-go (motor) and Delay
discounting (cognitive) task to assess impulsivity in both animals and humans. A primary objective of this study
is to characterize alterations in brain activity and functional connectivity related to motor and cognitive
impulsivity during fMRI in our four groups of Veterans. The secondary objective is to examine the relationship
between white matter integrity using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and dynamic causal modeling with data
from our two behavioral tasks of impulsivity performed during fMRI, along with psychometrically-validated
measures of impulsivity. The third objective will be to determine similarities and differences in impulsivity data
from animal TBI ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10425246
- **Project number:** 5I01CX002093-03
- **Recipient organization:** JAMES J PETERS VA  MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Marianne Goodman
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10425246

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10425246, CTBI: Traumatic brain injury-induced inflammation effects on cognitive evaluations and response inhibition: Mechanisms of increased risk forsuicidality (5I01CX002093-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10425246. Licensed CC0.

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