The cholinergic nuclei in the basal forebrain innervate frontal cortical structures regulating attention. Our aim was to investigate if cognitive test results measuring attention relate to the longitudinal volume change of cholinergically innervated structures following traumatic brain injury (TBI). During the prospective, observational TBIcare project patients with all severities of TBI (n = 114) and controls with acute orthopedic injuries (n = 17) were recruited. Head MRI was obtained in both acute (mean 2 weeks post-injury) and late (mean 8 months) time points. T1-weighted 3D MR images were analyzed with an automatic segmentation method to evaluate longitudinal, structural brain volume change. The cognitive outcome was assessed with the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Analyses included 16 frontal cortical structures, of which four showed a significant correlation between post-traumatic volume change and the CANTAB test results. The strongest correlation was found between the volume loss of the supplementary motor cortex and motor screening task results (R-sq 0.16, p < 0.0001), where poorer test results correlated with greater atrophy. Of the measured sum structures, greater cortical gray matter atrophy rate showed a significant correlation with the poorer CANTAB test results. TBI caused volume loss of frontal cortical structures that are heavily innervated by cholinergic neurons is associated with neuropsychological test results measuring attention.

中文翻译：

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外伤性脑损伤和认知结果后额胆碱能结构的体积变化。

基底前脑的胆碱能神经支配调节注意力的额叶皮质结构。我们的目的是研究测量注意力的认知测试结果是否与创伤性脑损伤（TBI）后胆碱能神经支配结构的纵向体积变化有关。在前瞻性，观察性TBIcare项目中，招募了所有TBI严重程度（n = 114）和患有急性骨伤的对照组（n = 17）。在急性（受伤后2周）和晚期（平均8个月）时间点均获得头部MRI。T1加权3D MR图像使用自动分割方法进行分析，以评估纵向，结构性大脑体积的变化。认知结果通过剑桥神经心理学自动测试电池（CANTAB）进行评估。分析包括16个额叶皮质结构，其中4个显示创伤后体积变化与CANTAB测试结果之间存在显着相关性。在补充运动皮层的体积损失与运动筛查任务结果之间发现最强的相关性（R-sq 0.16，p <0.0001），其中较差的测试结果与更大的萎缩相关。在测得的总结构中，较大的皮质灰质萎缩率与较差的CANTAB测试结果显着相关。TBI引起的胆碱能神经元严重支配的额叶皮质结构的体积损失与测量注意力的神经心理学测试结果有关。在补充运动皮层的体积损失与运动筛查任务结果之间发现最强的相关性（R-sq 0.16，p <0.0001），其中较差的测试结果与更大的萎缩相关。在测得的总结构中，较大的皮质灰质萎缩率与较差的CANTAB测试结果显着相关。TBI引起的胆碱能神经元严重支配的额叶皮质结构的体积损失与测量注意力的神经心理学测试结果有关。在补充运动皮层的体积损失与运动筛查任务结果之间发现最强的相关性（R-sq 0.16，p <0.0001），其中较差的测试结果与更大的萎缩相关。在测得的总结构中，较大的皮质灰质萎缩率与较差的CANTAB测试结果显着相关。TBI引起的胆碱能神经元严重支配的额叶皮质结构的体积损失与测量注意力的神经心理学测试结果有关。