Abnormal regional homogeneity and its relationship with symptom severity in cervical dystonia: A rest state fMRI study

Abstract

Background: Although several brain networks play important roles in cervical dystonia (CD) patients, regional homogeneity (ReHo) changes in CD patients have not been clarified. We investigated to explore ReHo in CD patients at rest and analyzed its correlations with symptom severity as measured by Tsui scale.Methods: A total of 19 CD patients and 21 gender-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls underwent fMRI scans at rest state. Data were analyzed by ReHo method.Results: Patients showed increased ReHo in the right cerebellum crus I and decreased ReHo in the right superior medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Moreover, the right precentral gyrus, right insula, and bilateral middle cingulate gyrus also showed increased ReHo values. A significantly positive correlation was observed between ReHo value in the right cerebellum crus I and symptom severity (p < 0.05).Conclusions: Our investigation suggested abnormal ReHo existed in brain regions of the "pain matrix" and salience network (the right insula and bilateral middle cingulate gyrus), the motor network (the right precentral gyrus), the cerebellum and MPFC and further highlighted the significance of these networks in the pathology of CD.

Altered brain connectivity in hyperkinetic movement disorders: A review of resting-state fMRI

“…For dystonia, 46 articles were included, ( Zhang et al, 2020 , Pan et al, 2019 , Jochim et al, 2018 , Putzel et al, 2018 , Mantel et al, 2018 , Ni et al, 2017 , Huang et al, 2017 , Li et al, 2017 , Long et al, 2017 , Haslinger et al, 2017 , Kiyuna et al, 2017 , Battistella et al, 2016 , Sarasso et al, 2020 , Liu et al, 2016 , Ren et al, 2015 , Bharath et al, 2015 , Dresel et al, 2014 , Delnooz et al, 2015 , Hinkley et al, 2013 , Delnooz et al, 2013 , Delnooz et al, 2012 , Mohammadi et al, 2012 , Wei et al, 2021 , Jiang et al, 2019 , Pan et al, 2021 , Feng e al., 2021 , de Faria et al, 2020 , Norris et al, 2020 , Glickman et al, 2020 , Mantel et al, 2020 , Ma et al, 2021 , Corp et al, 2019 , Fang et al, 2021 , Giannì et al, 2022 , Qin et al, 2019 , Zito et al, 2022 , Kim et al, 2022 , Hou et al, 2022 , Ekmen et al, 2022 , Nieuwhof et al, 2022 , Filip et al, 2022 , Battistella and Simonyan, 2019 , Bianchi et al, 2019 , Kita et al, 2018 , Fuertinger and Simonyan, 2018 , Qin et al, 2018 ) concerning cervical dystonia (CD; n = 14), writer’s cramp (n = 10), laryngeal dystonia (n = 8), musician's dystonia (n = 5), paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (n = 6), blepharospasm (n = 6), oromandibular dystonia (n = 2), dyskinetic cerebral palsy (n = 2), spastic cerebral palsy (n = 1), dystonic tremor (n = 1), and generalized dystonia (n = 1). Most studies matched patients and healthy participants for age and gender.…”

“…Of the 26 studies investigating the relationship between clinical measures and resting-state brain connectivity, 10 found no significant correlation. Eight studies describe positive relationships between motor severity and brain function: 1) FC between the left and right calcarine cortex and in the SMA; ( Qin et al, 2019 ) 2) fALFF and ReHo in the caudate nucleus; ( Ni et al, 2017 ) 3) FC between both caudate nuclei; ( Ni et al, 2017 ) 4) FC between thalamus and caudate nucleus; ( Kiyuna et al, 2017 ) 5) FC between precentral gyrus and insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, postcentral gyrus, and thalamus; ( Dresel et al, 2014 ) 6) ReHo in cerebellum; ( Wei et al, 2021 ) 7) FC between prefrontal cortex and postcentral gyrus, and between postcentral gyrus and caudate nucleus; ( Feng, 2021 ) 8) connectivity in the cerebellum; ( Glickman et al, 2020 ) 9) FC in supramarginal gyrus and postcentral gyrus. ( Ma et al, 2021 ) Conversely, three studies describe negative relationships between motor severity and brain function: 1) FC between both SMA; ( Jiang et al, 2019 ) 2) FC between cerebellum and visual cortex; ( Jochim et al, 2018 ) 3) FC in the superior parietal cortex.…”