Interestingly, functional connectivity for DLPFC for patients and controls demonstrate a similar pattern observed in the default network (i.e., medial superior frontal lobe, posterior cingulate and bilateral inferior parietal lobes, parahippocampal gyrus). Furthermore, patients demonstrate significantly greater negative connectivity in occipital-temporal and parahippocampal gyri than controls, which may suggest that patients are suppressing brain activity to a greater degree than controls. While it is unclear whether the DLPFC is suppressing brain activity in the aforementioned regions or if these regions are suppressing brain activity in the DLPFC and other regions involved in the default network, given the frontal lobes play a role in modulating and coordinating complex behaviors, the DLPFC is more likely modulating activity in other regions. Greater amount of negative correlations observed when using the DLPFC as a seed among patients may suggest they are less efficient in quieting their minds during a resting state task, thus demonstrating the default mode network is sensitive to changes after TAI. Subsequent investigation into this matter should utilize a time-lag analysis of connectivity, as this may help determine whether there is a causal relationship between the DLPFC and the negatively correlated brain regions.
