Background: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death globally and one of the most important diseases for the World Health Organization. Several studies have concluded that brain damage can dramatically increase Functional Connectivity (FC) in the brain. The effects of this hyper-connectivity are not yet fully understood and are being studied by neuroscientists. This study aimed to identify areas of the brain where, after brain injury, we have seen an acute increase in FC in those areas. Method: The data used in this study were downloaded from the accessible Open fMRI site. Data included fMRI data of 14 patients with severe TBI and 12 healthy individuals. The longitudinal model of variance components investigated the difference between FC in the baseline effect and the longitudinal trend between the TBI and control groups. Result: After fitting the longitudinal model of variance components, it was observed that there is no difference between the FC of the two groups due to the baseline effect. However, in the longitudinal trend of FC, there was a statistically significant difference between the three pairs of CL and CR, SFGL and SFGR, TL and TR in the TBI group compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results showed that FC was sharply increased in 3 pairs of areas in people with TBI. This hyper-connectivity can affect individuals' cognitive functions, including motor and sensory functions. The exact extent of this effect is unclear and needs further investigation by neuroscientists.
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