Altered cognitive processes in the acute phase of mTBI: an analysis of independent components of event-related potentials

Neuroreport. 2015 Nov 11;26(16):952-7. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000000447.

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) generate acute disruptions of brain function and a subset of patients shows persisting cognitive, affective, and somatic symptoms. Deficits in the executive function domain are among the more frequent cognitive impairments reported by mTBI patients. By means of independent component analysis, event-related potential components from a visual cued go/nogo task, namely contingent negative variation (CNV) and NoGo-P3, were decomposed into distinct independent components that have been shown to be associated with the executive processes of energization, monitoring, and task setting. A group of symptomatic mTBI patients was compared with a group of controls matched for sex, age, and education. Patients showed reduced amplitudes in the late CNV as well as in the early NoGo-P3 subcomponents. Whereas the decreased CNVlate component indicates an impaired ability to generate representations of stimulus-response associations and to energize the maintenance of response patterns, the reduced P3NOGOearly component suggests a deficient ability to invest attentional effort in the initiation of response patterns in mTBI patients. Besides indicating the effects of mTBI on cognitive brain processing, the results may open up the possibility for assessing individual mTBI profiles and facilitate personalized rehabilitative measures.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Adult
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Brain Injuries / physiopathology*
  • Brain Injuries / psychology*
  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Electroencephalography
  • Evoked Potentials
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*