(Technology Networks) – After traumatic brain injury (TBI), some patients may recover completely, while others retain severe disabilities. Accurately evaluating prognosis is challenging in patients on life-sustaining therapy.
Though resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) can assess neurological activity shortly after brain injury, it is unknown whether communication across brain regions at this early juncture predicts long-term recovery.
Investigators from Mass General Brigham and collaborators in the U.S. and Europe analyzed data from three prospective cohorts comprising 97 patients who underwent rs-fMRI after injury, finding that early communication between three pairs of brain regions is associated with favorable six-month functional outcomes. CONTINUE