Investigation of brain connectivity alteration in the non-severe traumatic brain injury: an emotional condition study.
Overview
and 12 other authors
Azizah Othman10, Zunaina Embong11, Nur Asma Sapiai12, Regunath Kandasamy13, Haidi Ibrahim14, Mohd Zaid Abdullah14, Pedro Antono Valdes-Sosa15,16, Maria Luisa Bringas Vega15,16, Bharat Biswal17, Putra Sumari18, Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh19, Jafri M. Abdullah1,219 affiliations
- Department of Neurosciences & Brain Behaviour Cluster, Hospital Pakar Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
- Brain Behaviour Cluster and Department of Neurosciences, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
- School of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
- Department of Computer Science, Kulliyah of Information and Communication Technology, International Islamic University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Raffles University, Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia
- Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
- Dr. Sid E. Williams Center for Chiropractic Research, Life University, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
- Department of Paediatrics, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
- Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
- Department of Radiology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
- Neuroscience Clinic, Gleneagles Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal, Malaysia
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
- The Cuban Neurosciences Center, Havana, Cuba
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, United States of America
- School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia
- School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia
Abstract
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) frequently results in persistent emotional and cognitive dysfunction, yet the neural mechanisms underlying these deficits remain incompletely understood. This study examined the impact of non-severe TBI (nTBI) on emotional processing, with a focus on brain activation, functional connectivity, effective connectivity, and their relationship to cognitive performance.
Methods: Twenty right-handed male nTBI participants (mean age: 30.70 ± 11.78 years) and 20 age-matched healthy male controls (mean age: 27.85 ± 7.73 years) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while viewing emotional images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Brain activation was analyzed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM12). Functional connectivity was assessed with seed-based analysis (medial visual network, mVN) using the CONN toolbox. Effective connectivity was evaluated using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) and parametric empirical Bayes (PEB). Neuropsychological assessments covering memory, intelligence, and executive function were included to characterize general cognitive function within the cohort, with exploratory analyses examining relationships with connectivity measures.
Results: Compared to controls, the nTBI group exhibited reduced activation in the calcarine cortex and lingual gyrus during emotional processing. Functional connectivity analysis showed decreased mVN connectivity with the frontal pole and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), with increased mVN-ACC and mVN-supramarginal gyrus connectivity specifically during negative emotion processing. Effective connectivity analysis revealed altered directional influences within visual-limbic-cognitive control networks, including altered mVN-to-dACC and right amygdala-to-dACC connectivity patterns, as well as valence-specific modulation of self-inhibition. Exploratory analyses suggested potential correlations between connectivity alterations and cognitive performance, though these relationships varied across domains and should be interpreted cautiously.
Conclusions: Non-severe TBI disrupts emotional network function by altering both functional and effective connectivity, particularly in visual, limbic, and cognitive control regions. These alterations may contribute to emotional dysregulation following injury. Findings support the relevance of brain connectivity-based markers in understanding post-TBI emotional processing and highlight potential targets for intervention. Interpretations should be made cautiously, given the study limitations, including the use of static visual stimuli and a homogenous male sample.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
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Data
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- zenodo:15666509, at Zenodo; found in the references
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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 32 authors, 8 keywords, 12 MeSH terms, 3 funders, 124 references, 1 RRID.
Cite
This paper
Omar, H., Abd Hamid, A. I., Abdul Rahman, M., Noh, N. A., Yaacob, H. S., Chai, W. J., Idris, Z., Ahmad, A. H., Fitzrol, D. N., Ab. Ghani, A. R. I., Hamzah, N., Mohamad, W. N. A. W., Mohamed Mustafar, M. F., Hanafi, M. H., Reza, M. F., Umar, H., Zulkifly, M. F. M., Ang, S. y., Zakaria, Z., . . . Abdullah, J. M. (2026). Investigation of brain connectivity alteration in the non-severe traumatic brain injury: an emotional condition study. PeerJ, 14, e21593. https://
BibTeX
@article{omar2026investi
author = {Omar, Hazim and Abd Hamid, Aini Ismafairus and Abdul Rahman, Muhammad and Noh, Nor Azila and Yaacob, Hamwira Sakti and Chai, Wen Jia and Idris, Zamzuri and Ahmad, Asma Hayati and Fitzrol, Diana Noma and Ab. Ghani, Ab. Rahman Izaini and Hamzah, Nurfaten and Mohamad, Wan Nor Azlen Wan and Mohamed Mustafar, Mohamed Faiz and Hanafi, Muhammad Hafiz and Reza, Mohammed Faruque and Umar, Hafidah and Zulkifly, Mohd Faizal Mohd and Ang, Song yee and Zakaria, Zaitun and Musa, Kamarul Imran and Othman, Azizah and Embong, Zunaina and Sapiai, Nur Asma and Kandasamy, Regunath and Ibrahim, Haidi and Abdullah, Mohd Zaid and Valdes-Sosa, Pedro Antono and Bringas Vega, Maria Luisa and Biswal, Bharat and Sumari, Putra and Jamir Singh, Paramjit Singh and Abdullah, Jafri M.},
title = {{Investigation of brain connectivity alteration in the non-severe traumatic brain injury: an emotional condition study}},
journal = {PeerJ},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
volume = {14},
pages = {e21593},
publisher = {PeerJ, Inc},
issn = {2167-8359},
doi = {10.7717/
url = {https://
pmid = {42571587},
pmcid = {PMC13452427}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Omar, Hazim
AU - Abd Hamid, Aini Ismafairus
AU - Abdul Rahman, Muhammad
AU - Noh, Nor Azila
AU - Yaacob, Hamwira Sakti
AU - Chai, Wen Jia
AU - Idris, Zamzuri
AU - Ahmad, Asma Hayati
AU - Fitzrol, Diana Noma
AU - Ab. Ghani, Ab. Rahman Izaini
AU - Hamzah, Nurfaten
AU - Mohamad, Wan Nor Azlen Wan
AU - Mohamed Mustafar, Mohamed Faiz
AU - Hanafi, Muhammad Hafiz
AU - Reza, Mohammed Faruque
AU - Umar, Hafidah
AU - Zulkifly, Mohd Faizal Mohd
AU - Ang, Song yee
AU - Zakaria, Zaitun
AU - Musa, Kamarul Imran
AU - Othman, Azizah
AU - Embong, Zunaina
AU - Sapiai, Nur Asma
AU - Kandasamy, Regunath
AU - Ibrahim, Haidi
AU - Abdullah, Mohd Zaid
AU - Valdes-Sosa, Pedro Antono
AU - Bringas Vega, Maria Luisa
AU - Biswal, Bharat
AU - Sumari, Putra
AU - Jamir Singh, Paramjit Singh
AU - Abdullah, Jafri M.
TI - Investigation of brain connectivity alteration in the non-severe traumatic brain injury: an emotional condition study
T2 - PeerJ
J2 - PeerJ
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 14
SP - e21593
SN - 2167-8359
PB - PeerJ, Inc
DO - 10.7717/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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