Neuroimaging and social behavior in children after traumatic brain injury: Findings from the Social Outcomes of Brain Injury in Kids (SOBIK) study

Issue title: Neurobehavioural Disorders after Traumatic Brain Injury: Assessment, Treatment and Outcome

Guest editors: Roger Ll. Wood

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Bigler, Erin D.^{a; b; *} | Yeates, Keith Owen^c | Dennis, Maureen^{d; e; f} | Gerhardt, Cynthia A.^c | Rubin, Kenneth H.^g | Stancin, Terry^h | Taylor, H. Gerry^h | Vannatta, Kathryn^c

Affiliations: [a] Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, UT, USA | [b] Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah School of Medicine, UT, USA | [c] Department of Pediatrics, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA | [d] Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada | [e] Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, ON, Canada | [f] Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, ON, Canada | [g] Department of Human Development, University of Maryland, MD, USA | [h] MetroHealth Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Erin D. Bigler, Department of Psychological Science, 1001 SWKT, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. E-mail: erin_bigler@byu.edu

Abstract: Background:Neuroimaging studies identified either focal and/or non-specific frontotemporolimbic damage resulting from mild-complicated to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a subset of 12 children 8–12 years of age who were part of the Social Outcomes of Brain Injury in Kids (SOBIK) study. The influence of identifiable damage on social behavior was examined. Methods:Magnetic resonance imaging was obtained on average 2.5 years post injury wherein cases with distinct abnormalities were selected. Various direct, performance-based measures of cognitive-social-emotional functioning were obtained along with data regarding peer relations and friendships in the classroom. Results:Overall, children with TBI were impaired on tasks of social-emotional processing compared to children with orthopedic injury (OI). Ten of the 12 children with TBI had multiple areas of impaired social-emotional functioning in comparison to OI controls. With regards to friendships, four of the nine children with TBI who had classroom data had no mutual friends, four also received low peer acceptance ratings, and two were perceived by peers as having high levels of rejection/victimization in the classroom. Conclusions:Children with frontotemporolimbic or diffuse damage demonstrated variable social outcomes from their TBI. Results are discussed in terms of the heterogeneity of TBI-related abnormalities and their relationship to social behavior.

Keywords: Traumatic brain injury, social brain, neuroimaging, theory of mind, frontotemporolimbic damage

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-130896

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 707-720, 2013