EEG hyperexcitability and hyperconnectivity linked to GABAergic inhibitory interneuron loss following traumatic brain injury
Author
Other authors
Publication date
2024-11-27ISSN
2632-1297
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury represents a significant global health burden and has the highest prevalence among neurological disorders. Even mild traumatic brain injury can induce subtle, long-lasting changes that increase the risk of future neurodegeneration. Importantly, this can be challenging to detect through conventional neurological assessment. This underscores the need for more sensitive diagnostic tools, such as electroencephalography, to uncover opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Progress in the field has been hindered by a lack of studies linking mechanistic insights at the microscopic level from animal models to the macroscale phenotypes observed in clinical imaging. Our study addresses this gap by investigating a rat model of mild blast traumatic brain injury using both immunohistochemical staining of inhibitory interneurons and translationally relevant electroencephalography recordings. Although we observed no pronounced effects immediately post-injury, chronic time points revealed broadband hyperexcitability and increased connectivity, accompanied by decreased density of inhibitory interneurons. This pattern suggests a disruption in the balance between excitation and inhibition, providing a crucial link between cellular mechanisms and clinical hallmarks of injury. Our findings have significant implications for the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of traumatic brain injury. The emergence of electroencephalography abnormalities at chronic time points, despite the absence of immediate effects, highlights the importance of long-term monitoring in traumatic brain injury patients. The observed decrease in inhibitory interneuron density offers a potential cellular mechanism underlying the electroencephalography changes and may represent a target for therapeutic intervention. This study demonstrates the value of combining cellular-level analysis with macroscale neurophysiological recordings in animal models to elucidate the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury. Future research should focus on translating these findings to human studies and exploring potential therapeutic strategies targeting the excitation-inhibition imbalance in traumatic brain injury.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
61 - Medical sciences
616.8 - Neurology. Neuropathology. Nervous system
Keywords
EEG
hyperconnectivity
GABAergic
interneurons
TBI
immunohistochemistry
electroencephalography
gamma-aminobutyric acid
traumatic brain injuries
interneurons
basic local alignment search tool
hyperconnectivity
Pages
21 p.
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Is part of
Brain Communications, 2024;6(6):fcae385
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Rights
© L'autor/a
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/