Supplementary Motor Cortical Changes Explored by Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Brachial Plexus Injury

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• 作者：Yechen Lu¹ ; Hanqiu Liu² ; Xuyun Hua¹ ; Wen-Dong Xu¹ ; ³ ; ^{wendongxu@fudan.edu.cn" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Jian-Guang Xu¹ ; Yu-Dong Gu¹
• 关键词：Brachial plexus injury ; voxel-wise functional connectivity ; Supplementary motor area
• 刊名：World Neurosurgery
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：April 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：88
• 期：Complete
• 页码：300-305
• 全文大小：2184 K

文摘

Brachial plexus injury (BPI) is a serious peripheral nerve injury, and clinical outcomes are generally unsatisfactory. It has been reported that cortical plasticity could influence the restoration of motor function. However, the neurologic mechanism of BPI is unclear, which provides a basis for further investigation. The supplementary motor area (SMA) plays an important role in the regulation of motor function. This study aims to explore SMA–whole brain functional connectivity after deafferentation of the brachial plexus.

Methods

ara0015">Study subjects included 16 patients with BPI and 8 healthy volunteers. The seed region was defined by a block-design functional magnetic resonance imaging program that used unilateral imaginary hand grasp motion as a task stimulus. Next, the voxel–wise functional connectivity between the predefined region and the other regions of the brain was calculated.

Results

ara0020">We discovered decreased voxel–wise functional connectivity between the SMA and multiple brain regions, including precuneus, posterior cingulum cortex, and anterior cingulum cortex, that are closely associated with information integration or motor processing in patients with BPI.

Conclusions

ara0025">Patients with BPI showed weakened functional connectivity between hand grasp–related areas and the SMA and multiple regions associated with motor processing or information integration. A clear image of the functional status of the brain after deafferentation was provided. On the basis of this discovery, a relationship between changes in neuroimaging measurements and clinical outcomes can be determined in future studies.