Altered Microstructural Caudate Integrity in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder but Not Traumatic Brain Injury

Objective: Given the high prevalence and comorbidity of combat-related PTSD and TBI in Veterans, it is often difficult to disentangle the contributions of each disorder. Examining these pathologies separately may help to understand the neurobiological basis of memory impairment in PTSD and TBI independently of each other. Thus, we investigated whether a) PTSD and TBI are characterized by subcortical structural abnormalities by examining diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics and volume and b) if these abnormalities were specific to PTSD versus TBI. Method We investigated whether individuals with PTSD or TBI display subcortical structural abnormalities in memory regions by examining DTI metrics and volume of the hippocampus and caudate in three groups of Veterans: Veterans with PTSD, Veterans with TBI, and Veterans with neither PTSD nor TBI (Veteran controls). Results: While our results demonstrated no macrostructural differences among the groups in these regions, there were significant alterations in microstructural DTI indices in the caudate for the PTSD group but not the TBI group compared to Veteran controls. Conclusions: The result of increased mean, radial, and axial diffusivity, and decreased fractional anisotropy in the caudate in absence of significant volume atrophy in the PTSD group suggests the presence of subtle abnormalities evident only at a microstructural level. The caudate is thought to play a role in the physiopathology of PTSD, and the habit-like behavioral features of the disorder could be due to striatal-dependent habit learning mechanisms. Thus, DTI appears to be a vital tool to investigate subcortical pathology, greatly enhancing the ability to detect subtle brain changes in complex disorders

Development of a Metalinguistic Skill: Judging the Grammaticality of Sentences

Seventy-seven 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children were presented with well-formed and ill-formed versions of 10 different sentence types. They were asked to judge the grammaticality of the sentences and correct the ill-formed ones. The sentences were presented in an interview format, developed by McDaniel and Cairns (1990, 1996). Both grammaticality judgment and correction ability improved with age. It is argued that the ability to make grammaticality judgments and to correct ill-formed sentences reflects the child\u27s developing ability to access syntactic knowledge consciously and to employ that knowledge in the processing of sentences

Concussion Experiences in New England Private Preparatory High School Students Who Played Sports or Recreational Activities

Background: Sports- and recreation-related (SRR) activities are a major cause of adolescent concussions. Most adolescent SRR concussion research has been conducted among public school students. As private schools are qualitatively different from public schools (eg, location, socioeconomic status, sports played), this study explores the concussion experiences of a large group of private high school students. Methods: We surveyed 2047 New England private preparatory high school students who played sports or engaged in a recreational activity in 2018 about the sports they played, and their self-reported concussion experiences (eg, age at first concussion, if concussions were sports- or recreation-related). Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistics are presented. Results: One-third (33.0%) of students who reported engaging in sport- or recreation-related activities self-reported experiencing a concussion in their lifetime. A higher percentage of boys, students who played contact sports, and those who played multiple seasons of school sports reported a concussion. Sex, contact level of primary sport played, and age of first concussion were also significantly associated with reporting a sports- or recreation-related concussion. Conclusions: A sizeable proportion of private preparatory high school students reported experiencing a concussion, with some students at higher risk. Private preparatory high school-specific concussion prevention strategies may be needed

sj-docx-1-jiv-10.1177_08862605231203962 – Supplemental material for Association Between Lifetime Sexual Violence and Recent Traumatic Brain Injury Among Adults: 2017 Connecticut Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jiv-10.1177_08862605231203962 for Association Between Lifetime Sexual Violence and Recent Traumatic Brain Injury Among Adults: 2017 Connecticut Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System by Dana Waltzman, Jill Daugherty, Juliet Haarbauer-Krupa, Xi Zheng, Celeste Jorge and Kathleen C. Basile in Journal of Interpersonal Violence</p

Group Differences in DTI Metrics.

<p>Group Differences in DTI Metrics.</p

Participant Cognitive assessment.

<p>Participant Cognitive assessment.</p

Associations between Age, MD, and Volume.

<p>Correlations between (A) Age and MD of the bilateral caudate, r(84) = 0.311, p = 0.004, (B) Age and volume of the bilateral caudate, r(84) = 0.105, p = 0.336, (C) Age and MD of the bilateral hippocampus, r(84) = 0.352, p = 0.001, and (D) Age and volume of the bilateral hippocampus, r(84) = -0.035, p = 0.748 collapsed across groups and controlling for education, handedness, and deployment.</p