Functional Activation Pattern to varied working memory loads in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) account for 85% of all TBIs. Working memory impairment is one of the most common symptoms in mTBI patients and may persist years post-mTBI. In this study, we used N-back fMRI to investigate the varying N-back task loads on the functional activation pattern in patients with mild TBI and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) as well as the longitudinal changes within mTBI group. Our results suggested that appropriate task load would be more sensitive in detecting the subtle brain functional changes, even though differences in behavioral performance between mTBI and HCs were absent.