Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether gray matter volume and diffusion-based metrics in associated white matter changed in breachers who had neuroimaging performed at two timepoints. A secondary purpose was to compare these changes in a group who had a one-year interval between their imaging timepoints to a group that had a two-year interval between imaging.
Methods: Between timepoints, clusters with significantly different gray matter volume were used as seeds for reconstruction of associated structural networks using diffusion metrics.
Results: Of 92 eligible participants, 62 had imaging at two timepoints, 36 with a one-year interval between scans and 26 with a two-year interval between scans. A significant effect of time was documented in the midcingulate cortex, but there was no effect of timepoint (1 versus 2 years). The associated white matter in this cluster had three regions with differences in fractional anisotropy compared to baseline, while there was no effect of timepoint (1 versus 2 years).
Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that military personnel involved in repetitive exposure to sub-concussive blast overpressures may experience changes to both gray matter and white matter structures.
Keywords: Military personnel; diffusion tensor imaging; gray-matter volume; head injuries; sub-concussive trauma; tractography.