Cerebral Blood Flow and BOLD Changes in TBI using fMRI

描述（由申请人提供）：随着大量神经认知TBI文献的出现，fMRI作为理解TBI（创伤性脑损伤）对人类认知和运动功能影响的工具的巨大潜力已经开始被认识到（麦卡利斯特et al.，1999; 2001，Christodoulou等人，2001年）。虽然这些发现的一致性令人鼓舞，但关于TBI对通过fMRI测量的脑激活模式的影响的结论的有效性将取决于更好地表征所观察到的脑激活模式的广泛变异性（Hillary，Steffener，Biswal等人，2002年）。我们的建议的目的是系统地检查和量化的血管和神经因素有助于创伤相关的功能磁共振成像信号的变化。据我们所知，这是第一次尝试全面研究生物物理，神经和认知的贡献TBI相关的功能磁共振成像激活的差异。我们建议开发和利用的技术可以由其他研究人员实施，以准确地隔离由于创伤相关（或任何人群相关）神经活动差异引起的血流动力学变化。正因为如此，目前的提案提供了建立新标准的机会，将BOLD fMRI应用于临床样本。本项目旨在结合联合收割机基础科学，工程和计算问题，以具体阐明机制（神经元与血管），导致TBI受试者与健康对照组相比，改变了大脑激活。从非侵入性技术（fMRI）获得的结果将提供方法来测量一些相关的生理因素，并表征他们的生物病理学，以了解人类脑功能与TBI。所开发的方法和技术也可用于研究两个或多个不同的群体。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The enormous potential of fMRI as a tool for understanding the influences of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) on cognitive and motor functioning in humans has begun to be realized as a body of neurocognitive TBI literature has started to emerge (McAllister et al., 1999; 2001, Christodoulou et al., 2001). While the consistency in these findings has been encouraging, the validity of conclusions regarding the influences of TBI on brain activation patterns measured by fMRI will be dependent upon better characterizing the wide variability in brain activation patterns observed (Hillary, Steffener, Biswal et al., 2002). The aim of our proposal is to systematically examine and quantify the vascular and neural factors contributing to trauma- related changes in the fMRI signal. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to comprehensively examine the biophysical, neural, and cognitive contributions to TBI-related differences in fMRI activation. The techniques we propose to develop and utilize here can be implemented by other investigators to accurately isolate hemodynamic changes due to trauma-related (or, indeed, any population-related) differences in neural activity. Because of this, the current proposal provides the opportunity to establish new standards for applying BOLD fMRI to clinical samples.. The present project intends to combine basic science, engineering, and computational issues to specifically elucidate mechanisms (neuronal vs vascular) that results in TBI subjects having altered brain activation in comparison to healthy controls. Results obtained from the noninvasive technique (fMRI) would provide ways to measure a number of relevant physiological factors and characterize them biophysically to understand human brain function with TBI. Methods and techniques developed can also be used to study between two or more different groups.