Light Therapy Increases Brain Connectivity Following Injury

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Light Therapy Increases Brain Connectivity Following Injury

Low-level light therapy appears to affect healing in the brains of individuals who suffered from a moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to a study published in Radiology.

Previous studies have shown that low-level light therapy can modulate recovery in patients with TBI. However, the impact of this treatment on the functional connectivity

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of the brain when at rest has not been well studied.

For the current study, Suk-tak Chan, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the effect of low-level light therapy on whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity in patients with moderate TBI at acute (within 1 week), subacute (2-3 weeks), and late-subacute (3 months) recovery phases.

The researchers evaluated 17 patients treated with low-level light therapy, 21 treated with sham, and 23 healthy controls.  

Seven brain region pairs exhibited a greater change in connectivity in patients treated with low-level light therapy than in those treated with sham between the acute and subacute phases (range of z differences, 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.20-0.53 to 0.45; 95% CI, 0.24-0.67; false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted P value range, .010-.047).

There was an increase in connectivity in 13 different brain regions among patients treated with sham between the subacute and late-subacute phases (range of z differences, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.09- 0.25 to 0.26; 95% CI, 0.14-0.39; FDR-adjusted P value range, .020-.047).

When measured according to Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionnaire scores, there was no evidence of a difference in clinical outcomes between patients treated with low-level light therapy and those treated with sham (range of differences in medians, -3.54; 95% CI, -12.65 to 5.57 to -0.59; 95% CI, -7.31 to 8.49; P value range, .44-.99).

“There was increased connectivity in those receiving light treatment, primarily within the first 2 weeks,” said Nathaniel Mercaldo, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital. “We were unable to detect differences in connectivity between the 2 treatment groups long term, so although the treatment appears to increase the brain connectivity initially, its long-term effects are still to be determined.”

“There is still a lot of work to be done to understand the exact physiological mechanism behind these effects,” added Dr. Chan.

Additional studies with larger cohorts of patients and correlative imaging beyond 3 months may help determine the therapeutic role of light in TBI.

“There are lots of disorders of connectivity, mostly in psychiatry, where this intervention may have a role,” concluded Rajiv Gupta, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Reference: https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.230999

SOURCE: Radiological Society of North America