{"doi":"10.3390/diagnostics15050642","title":"Pain-Related White-Matter Changes Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Longitudinal Diffusion Tensor Imaging Pilot Study","abstract":"Background: This study used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to detect brain microstructural changes in participants with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) who experienced post-traumatic headaches, a common issue that affects quality of life and rehabilitation. Despite its prevalence, the mechanisms behind post-traumatic headache are not well understood. Methods: Participants were recruited from Level 1 trauma centers, and MRI scans, including T1-weighted anatomical imaging and DTI, were acquired 1 month post-injury. Advanced imaging techniques corrected artifacts and extracted diffusion tensor measures reflecting white-matter integrity. Pain sensitivity assays were collected at 1 and 6 months post-injury, including quantitative sensory testing and psychological assessments. Results: Significant aberrations in axial diffusivity in the forceps major were observed in mTBI participants (n = 12) compared to healthy controls (n = 10) 1 month post-injury (p = 0.02). Within the mTBI group, DTI metrics at 1 month were significantly associated with pain-related and psychological outcomes at 6 months. Statistical models revealed group differences in the right sagittal stratum (p < 0.01), left insula (p < 0.04), and left superior longitudinal fasciculus (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study shows that DTI metrics at 1 month post-injury are sensitive to mTBI and predictive of chronic pain and psychological outcomes at 6 months.","journal":"Diagnostics","year":2025,"id":550266,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8832,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":570259,"name":"Tyler Nguyen","orcid":"0000-0002-9134-9915","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":152546,"name":"Fletcher A. White","orcid":"0000-0002-8408-9262","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":964796,"name":"Kelly M. Naugle","orcid":"0000-0001-5051-5625","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":297385,"name":"Yu‐Chien Wu","orcid":"0000-0003-1084-2634","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":429982,"name":"Ho‐Ching Yang","orcid":"0000-0003-2670-1772","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":86,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:54:16.596730Z","pmid":"40075890","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}