Corpus callosum pathology as a potential surrogate marker of cognitive impairment in diffuse axonal injury

Abstract

Diffuse axonal injury is a major form of traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychological assessments and high-resolution structural MRI were conducted using T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging. This study included 10 patients with diffuse axonal injury (all men, mean age 30.86±10.5 years) and 12 age-and sex-matched normal control participants. Patients with diffuse axonal injury had widespread volume reductions and lower fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum (CC) compared with controls. Furthermore, cognitive processing speed was associated with reductions in white matter volume and fractional anisotropy in the CC. These findings suggest that CC pathology may be a potential surrogate marker of the cognitive deficits in these patients.