Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41884602›Full record

ArticleBrain communications2026

Pontine pathology mediates common symptoms of blast-induced chronic mild traumatic brain injury.

James S Meabon, Abigail G Schindler, Daniel R Murray, Elizabeth A Colasurdo, Carl L Sikkema, Joshua W Rodriguez, Mohamed Omer, Marcella M Cline, Aric F Logsdon, Donna J Cross and 15 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

25 authors.

James S MeabonVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0225-1546
Abigail G SchindlerDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Daniel R MurrayVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Elizabeth A ColasurdoVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Carl L SikkemaVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Joshua W RodriguezVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Mohamed OmerVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Marcella M ClineDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Aric F LogsdonGeriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6379-4838
Donna J CrossDepartment of Radiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Todd L RichardsDepartment of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Kole D MeekerGeriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Andrew Shutes-DavidVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Mayumi YagiGeriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Daniel P PerlDepartment of Pathology, DoD/USU Brain Tissue Repository and Neuropathology Core Laboratory, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD, USA.
William A BanksDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Ronald G ThomasAlzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Cory McEvoyDepartment of Emergency Medicine, CU Anschutz Center for COMBAT Research, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0307-9450
Adam J CrabtreeWomack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC, USA.
Jacob R PowellDepartment of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3899-9433
Jason P MihalikPhysical Therapy, Department of Allied Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Kathleen F PagulayanVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Murray A RaskindVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
Elaine R PeskindVA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.
David G CookGeriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), Seattle, WA, USA.

Funding

University of Washington Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterP30AG066509 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI Amanda D. Boyd · 2020 to 2026
$29.0M
BLRD VA I01 BX002311BLRD VA I01 BX004896BLRD VA IK2 BX003258NIA NIH HHS P30 AG066509RRD VA I01 RX000521RRD VA I01 RX001612RRD VA I01 RX003087
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Diffuse mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) often leads to persistent post-concussive symptoms (PCS) such as fragmented sleep, yet the brain loci and cellular mechanisms that link injury to disability remain obscure. We tested the hypothesis that repeated blast-induced mTBI provokes a chronic myelinopathy with accompanied microglial response in the pontine reticular formation, a brainstem region that modulates arousal and sleep, and that this pathology statistically mediates persistent PCS burden. Using spatially resolved single cell phenotyping in a mouse model of blast-mTBI, we found that only repeated mTBI established persistent activation of disease-associated microglia and phagocytosis of myelin in the pontine reticular formation. Parallel studies in veterans with repeated blast-mTBI revealed identical microglial nodules on neuropathological exam up to two decades after documented blast injury, while diffusion tensor imaging confirmed a dose-dependent pontine myelin disruption that statistically mediated sleep disturbance and broad PCS. Together, these data identify pontine white matter pathology as both a biomarker and mechanistic driver of chronic PCS after repeated diffuse mTBI, highlighting brainstem microglia and oligodendrocytes as rational therapeutic targets.

Indexed as

blastmilitarymTBIoverpressureTBI

Identifiers

PMID41884602
PMCPMC13010143

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.