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The Nature of Processing Speed Deficits in Traumatic Brain Injury: is Less Brain More?

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Abstract

The cognitive constructs working memory (WM) and processing speed are fundamental components to general intellectual functioning in humans and highly susceptible to disruption following neurological insult. Much of the work to date examining speeded working memory deficits in clinical samples using functional imaging has demonstrated recruitment of network areas including prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). What remains unclear is the nature of this neural recruitment. The goal of this study was to isolate the neural networks distinct from those evident in healthy adults and to determine if reaction time (RT) reliably predicts observable between-group differences. The current data indicate that much of the neural recruitment in TBI during a speeded visual scanning task is positively correlated with RT. These data indicate that recruitment in PFC during tasks of rapid information processing are at least partially attributable to normal recruitment of PFC support resources during slowed task processing.

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Notes

  1. Fixed-effects analyses were conducted in SPM5 comparing the TBI subsamples (n = 6, n = 6) using FDR, p < .05 and no differences were noted. When using a liberal threshold to increase sensitivity to possible differences (p < .001, uncorrected, no cluster threshold), this analysis revealed only small differences between TBI subgroups including clusters in: 1) left middle frontal gyrus (BA9) at −34 42 34 (cluster extent 2 voxels), and right supplementary motor cortex (BA 8) at 32 32 48 (cluster extent 67 voxels), and a cluster of 17 voxels in the left medial inferior parietal lobule (BA 31) at −2 −54 32. These subtle differences do not account for the between-group differences observed here when comparing TBI and HC samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Frank G. Hillary, John D. Medaglia, Kathy S. Chiou, Britney M. Wardecker & Robert G. Franklin Jr.

  2. Department of Neurology, Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA

    Frank G. Hillary

  3. Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, NJ, USA

    Helen M. Genova & John DeLuca

  4. Department of Radiology, Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA

    Neal M. Fitzpatrick & Jianli Wang

  5. New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA

    John DeLuca

  6. Psychology Department, Pennsylvania State University, 223 Moore Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Frank G. Hillary

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Supplementary Tables S1, S2

Group data presenting “peak” activation for canonical HRF analysis illustrated in Fig. 1 a,b. Note: “Region” indicates peak activation for Brodmann’s areas. For Regions where more than one peak was present in any specific Brodmann’s area and gyrus, only the most significant peak is reported. (DOC 95 kb)

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Hillary, F.G., Genova, H.M., Medaglia, J.D. et al. The Nature of Processing Speed Deficits in Traumatic Brain Injury: is Less Brain More?. Brain Imaging and Behavior 4, 141–154 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-010-9094-z

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