scholarly journals Weaker Connectivity of the Cortical Networks Is Linked with the Uncharacteristic Gait in Youth with Cerebral Palsy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1065
Author(s):  
Gaelle E. Doucet ◽  
Sarah Baker ◽  
Tony W. Wilson ◽  
Max J. Kurz
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Functional Integration ◽  
Step Length ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Sensorimotor Network ◽  
Gait Biomechanics ◽  
Neurologic Impairment ◽  
Visual Network

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most prevalent pediatric neurologic impairment and is associated with major mobility deficiencies. This has led to extensive investigations of the sensorimotor network, with far less research focusing on other major networks. The aim of this study was to investigate the functional connectivity (FC) of the main sensory networks (i.e., visual and auditory) and the sensorimotor network, and to link FC to the gait biomechanics of youth with CP. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we first identified the sensorimotor, visual and auditory networks in youth with CP and neurotypical controls. Our analysis revealed reduced FC among the networks in the youth with CP relative to the controls. Notably, the visual network showed lower FC with both the sensorimotor and auditory networks. Furthermore, higher FC between the visual and sensorimotor cortices was associated with larger step length (r = 0.74, pFDR = 0.04) in youth with CP. These results confirm that CP is associated with functional brain abnormalities beyond the sensorimotor network, suggesting abnormal functional integration of the brain’s motor and primary sensory systems. The significant association between abnormal visuo-motor FC and gait could indicate a link with visuomotor disorders in this patient population.

Measuring functional connectivity in patients with strabismus using stationary functional magnetic resonance imaging: a resting-state network study

2021 ◽  
pp. 028418512098397
Author(s):  
Kang Yu ◽  
Qi Lin ◽  
Qian-Min Ge ◽  
Chen-Yu Yu ◽  
Qiu-Yu Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Gaussian Random Field ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Sensorimotor Network ◽  
Resting State Network

Background Strabismus (STR) is a common eye disease characterized by abnormal eye movements and stereo vision. Neuroimaging studies have revealed that STR patients have impaired functional connectivity (FC) in the visual cortex and sensorimotor cortex. Purpose To investigate alterations in FC and connections within and between subnetworks of the visual network (VN), sensorimotor network (SMN), and default mode network (DMN) in patients with STR. Material and Methods A total of 32 patients with STR (24 men, 8 women) and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) (24 men, 8 women) were recruited. Participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. The resting-state network (RSN) was examined by independent component analysis, and differences in RSN FC between STR and HC groups were evaluated with the t test. Functional network connectivity (FNC) analysis was performed for the three RSNs. Results Compared to the HC group, the STR group showed increased FC in the VN and SMN (voxel-level P < 0.01; two-tailed Gaussian random field correction; cluster-level P < 0.05). There were no significant alterations in DMN FC between the two groups. FNC analysis of connections in the RSN revealed that one of the three connections in the VN was reduced, but no connectivity changes were observed in the SMN or DMN. FNC analysis of the connection between two RSNs showed that two had increased and one had a decreased connection value. Conclusion The VN, SMN, and DMN are reorganized in patients with STR compared to HCs, providing novel insight into the neural substrates of STR.

Increased interictal visual network connectivity in patients with migraine with aura

Cephalalgia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gioacchino Tedeschi ◽  
Antonio Russo ◽  
Francesca Conte ◽  
Daniele Corbo ◽  
Giuseppina Caiazzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Migraine With Aura ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Migraine Without Aura ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Visual Network

Objective To evaluate the resting-state visual network functional connectivity in patients with migraine with aura and migraine without aura during the interictal period. Population and methods Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, the resting-state visual network integrity was investigated in 20 patients with migraine with aura, 20 age- and sex-matched patients with migraine without aura and 20 healthy controls. Voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging were used to assess whether between-groups differences in functional connectivity were dependent on structural or microstructural changes. Results Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data showed that patients with migraine with aura, compared to both patients with migraine without aura and healthy controls, had a significant increased functional connectivity in the right lingual gyrus within the resting-state visual network ( p < 0.05, cluster-level corrected). This abnormal resting-state visual network functional connectivity was observed in the absence of structural or microstructural abnormalities and was not related to migraine severity. Conclusions Our imaging data revealed that patients with migraine with aura exhibit an altered resting-state visual network connectivity. These results support the hypothesis of an extrastriate cortex involvement, centred in the lingual gyrus, a brain region related to mechanisms underlying the initiation and propagation of the migraine aura. This resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging finding may represent a functional biomarker that could differentiate patients experiencing the aura phenomenon from patients with migraine without aura, even between migraine attacks.

A Critical, Event-Related Appraisal of Denoising in Resting-State fMRI Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 5544-5559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D Power ◽  
Charles J Lynch ◽  
Babatunde Adeyemo ◽  
Steven E Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Critical Event ◽  
Head Motion ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Decay Properties ◽  
Signal Decay ◽  
Biological Variables ◽  
Related Approach

Abstract This article advances two parallel lines of argument about resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals, one empirical and one conceptual. The empirical line creates a four-part organization of the text: (1) head motion and respiration commonly cause distinct, major, unwanted influences (artifacts) in fMRI signals; (2) head motion and respiratory changes are, confoundingly, both related to psychological and clinical and biological variables of interest; (3) many fMRI denoising strategies fail to identify and remove one or the other kind of artifact; and (4) unremoved artifact, due to correlations of artifacts with variables of interest, renders studies susceptible to identifying variance of noninterest as variance of interest. Arising from these empirical observations is a conceptual argument: that an event-related approach to task-free scans, targeting common behaviors during scanning, enables fundamental distinctions among the kinds of signals present in the data, information which is vital to understanding the effects of denoising procedures. This event-related perspective permits statements like “Event X is associated with signals A, B, and C, each with particular spatial, temporal, and signal decay properties”. Denoising approaches can then be tailored, via performance in known events, to permit or suppress certain kinds of signals based on their desirability.

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