Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Whiplash-associated disorders frequently develop following motor vehicle collisions and often involve a range of cognitive and affective symptoms, though the neural correlates of the disorder are largely unknown. In this study, a sample of participants with chronic whiplash injuries were scanned by using resting-state fMRI to assess brain network changes associated with long-term outcome metrics.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Resting-state fMRI was collected for 23 participants and used to calculate network modularity, a quantitative measure of the functional segregation of brain region communities. This was analyzed for associations with whiplash-associated disorder outcome metrics, including scales of neck disability, traumatic distress, depression, and pain. In addition to these clinical scales, cervical muscle fat infiltration was quantified by using Dixon fat-water imaging, which has shown promise as a biomarker for assessing disorder severity and predicting recovery in chronic whiplash.
RESULTS: An association was found between brain network structure and muscle fat infiltration, wherein lower network modularity was associated with larger amounts of cervical muscle fat infiltration after controlling for age, sex, body mass index, and scan motion (t = −4.02, partial R2 = 0.49, P < .001).
CONCLUSIONS: This work contributes to the existing whiplash literature by examining a sample of participants with whiplash-associated disorder by using resting-state fMRI. Less modular brain networks were found to be associated with greater amounts of cervical muscle fat infiltration suggesting a connection between disorder severity and neurologic changes, and a potential role for neuroimaging in understanding the pathophysiology of chronic whiplash-associated disorders.
ABBREVIATIONS:
- rs-fMRI
- resting-state fMRI
- MFI
- muscle fat infiltration
- WAD
- whiplash-associated disorder(s)
- MVC
- motor vehicle collision
Footnotes
The project described originated at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, and was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through Grant Number R01HD079076: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development; National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (J.M.E., T.B.P.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
Disclosures: James Elliott—RELATED: Grant: National Institutes of Health, Comments: R01HD079076*; UNRELATED: Board membership: JOSPT, Comments: Accommodation/travel to professional conference; Consultancy: Kaiser Permanente, Comments: Professional development workshops; Employment: University of Sydney, Comments: Professor. Todd Parrish—RELATED: Grant: NIH*; UNRELATED: Grants/Grants Pending: NIH renewal.* *Money paid to institution.
- © 2020 by American Journal of Neuroradiology
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