# Longitudinal Sub-thalamic Structure and Functional Alterations in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2022 · $608,713

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The thalamus is a relay station for all sensory pathways (except olfactory) to the cerebral cortex. It also regulates
sleep and consciousness, supports motor and language function and memory. Its role in cognition is also now increasingly
recognized. Given that it serves as a junction for ascending and descending cortical projections, it is likely that thalamus
may bear a significant burden of traumatic brain injury (TBI) irrespective of the precise location of physical injury
sustained. Thalamic injury may therefore underlie various persisting post-concussive symptoms and cognitive
impairment. Recently, our group has provided multiple lines of evidence including altered metabolism, altered tissue
microstructure and altered functional communication between various sub-thalamic regions and cortical regions
associated with sensory processing after TBI. Our results suggest that the structural and functional integrity of the
thalamus may serve as an important factor in the diagnosis and long-term follow-up of TBI patients. These studies have
examined the thalamus as a single structure, not as a composite of the various nuclei that reside within it. Recent research
has provided evidence that thalamic function is highly selective with individual nuclei performing discrete functions.
However, pinpointing injury to specific thalamic nuclei is challenging due to the lack of image contrast within the
thalamus. We therefore propose to develop novel MR imaging and multi-modal feature classification methods to segment
the thalamus into its individual nuclei and test the hypothesis that post traumatic alterations in the structural and functional
integrity of the thalamic nuclei will be associated with progression of specific neuropsychological and cognitive
symptoms after mild TBI. We will test this hypothesis through the following aims: (a) Develop and optimize technique to
generate a series of T1-based synthetic MPRAGE (SynMPRAGE) images for direct visualization of sub-thalamic nuclei,
(b) examine longitudinal structural alterations of the thalamus, and its connectivity on 100 mTBI patients in comparison
with orthopedically injured control subjects, and (c) examine longitudinal changes in resting state thalamic connectivity
following mTBI. Through the development of novel imaging methodology to directly identify thalamic nuclei and
through development and application of improved segmentation techniques using multi-modal classification methods, we
plan to understand the pathophysiology of the thalamus and predictive value of MRI measures of thalamic injury in the
development of neuropsychological and cognitive deficits in mTBI patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10438832
- **Project number:** 5R01NS105503-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** Neeraj Badjatia
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $608,713
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-15 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10438832

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10438832, Longitudinal Sub-thalamic Structure and Functional Alterations in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (5R01NS105503-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10438832. Licensed CC0.

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