Connectome-Based Neuroanatomical Mapping of Traumatic Brain Injury Sequelae in Survivors of Road Traffic Accidents in South West Nigeria

Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury in Nigeria, and their neuroanatomical sequelae in terms of white matter disruption, cortical disconnection, and structural connectivity loss remain poorly characterised in African cohorts. Connectome-based neuroimaging, combining diffusion tensor imaging tractography with resting-state functional MRI, provides a comprehensive framework for mapping the structural and functional consequences of traumatic axonal injury. This study aims to generate a connectome-based neuroanatomical map of traumatic brain injury sequelae in survivors of moderate to severe road traffic accident-related traumatic brain injury attending the neurosurgical outpatient clinics at University College Hospital Ibadan and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, South West Nigeria. Sixty traumatic brain injury survivors and 60 age- and sex-matched controls will undergo diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state functional MRI at three months and twelve months post-injury. Graph theory analysis will characterise structural network topology, including global efficiency, clustering coefficient, and characteristic path length. Hub regions with disproportionate connectivity disruption will be identified. Neuropsychological assessments for attention, processing speed, and memory will provide functional correlates of connectome changes. This multimodal longitudinal connectome study will constitute the first original neuroanatomical mapping of traumatic brain injury recovery trajectories in Nigerian road traffic accident survivors.

Keywords: traumatic brain injury, connectome, diffusion tensor imaging, road traffic accident, Nigeria