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Subacute and Chronic Cognitive and Cerebrovascular Functional Consequences of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats
Lifshitz J, Ruhland A, Bisesi J, Karamanova N, Law LM, Griffiths DR, Fuentes A, Bergamino M et al.. bioRxiv, 2026-07-27
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the main cause of death and disability in the United States in people younger than 35 years old and is a common cause of wartime injuries. Mild TBI (mTBI) is a predisposing factor for later development of dementia and cerebrovascular disease. Aerobic exercise was reported to improve cognitive function in chronic TBI through improved vascular function. The aims of the study are to characterize and correlate the subacute (10 weeks) and chronic (12 months) cognitive and cerebrovascular functional impairment following mTBI and evaluate the modulating effect of exercise early or late following mTBI on these changes. Sprague-Dawley rats received midline fluid percussion injury or sham procedure and followed for 10 weeks or 12 months with a subgroup of mTBI rats undergoing 5-week treadmill aerobic exercise 2 weeks (early) or 10 months (late) post-injury for 6 weeks. Cognitive function was assessed using novel object recognition (NOR) and novel object location (NOL) tests. Regional cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebrovascular reactivity following hypercapneic stimulation (CVR) using contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ex vivo pial artery vasoreactivity to intraluminal pressure, angiotensin II and diethylenetriamine NONOate (DETA NONOate) were measured. There was no difference in NOR or NOL at 10 weeks between mTBI and sham. NOR, but not NOL, was reduced in mTBI rats at 12 months. CBV at 10 weeks was higher in the primary somatosensory trunk cortex (trunk) and dentate gyrus regions in mTBI, but not at 12 months. CVR was lower in the trunk region of mTBI rats at 12 months. Compared to sham response at 10 weeks, there was impaired arterial constriction response to 90 mm Hg intraluminal pressure in mTBI rats at 10 weeks and in sham and mTBI rats at 12 months, with no difference seen in response to angiotensin II or DETA-NONOate exposure. There was no correlation between cognitive and vascular outcomes at 10 weeks or 12 months. Early or late exercise did not affect 12-month cognitive or vascular function following mTBI. The study showed chronic impairment in short-term memory cognitive function, regional cerebrovascular reactivity and early onset of impaired cerebrovascular myogenic response in rats subjected to mTBI. The findings of persistent cognitive and cerebrovascular impairment in this animal model enhance our understanding of the long-term consequence of mTBI.
Key findings
- Compared to sham response at 10 weeks, there was impaired arterial constriction response to 90 mm Hg intraluminal pressure in mTBI rats at 10 weeks and in sham and mTBI rats at 12 months, with no difference seen in response to angiotensin II or DETA-NONOate exposure.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 21 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 21 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (bioRxiv) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Laboratory or animal study (title names “rats”) — scores zero |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 13 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 21 out of 100. |
| Total | 21 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Lifshitz, J., Ruhland, A., Bisesi, J., Karamanova, N., Law, L. M., Griffiths, D. R., et al. (2026). Subacute and Chronic Cognitive and Cerebrovascular Functional Consequences of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.22.740068
Vancouver
Lifshitz J, Ruhland A, Bisesi J, Karamanova N, Law LM, Griffiths DR, et al. Subacute and Chronic Cognitive and Cerebrovascular Functional Consequences of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats. bioRxiv. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.07.22.740068.
BibTeX
@article{lifshitz2026-52e9bd33,
author = {Lifshitz, J. and Ruhland, A. and Bisesi, J. and Karamanova, N. and Law, L. M. and Griffiths, D. R. and Fuentes, A. and Bergamino, M. and others},
title = {{Subacute and Chronic Cognitive and Cerebrovascular Functional Consequences of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats}},
journal = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.07.22.740068},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.22.740068}
}
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