Altered Coupling Between Resting-State Cerebral Blood Flow and Functional Connectivity Strength in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients

Abstract

Background: Changes in regional neural activity and functional connectivity in cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) patients have been reported. However, resting-state cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes and coupling between CBF and functional connectivity in CSM patients are largely unknown.Methods: Twenty-seven CSM patients and 24 sex/age-matched healthy participants underwent resting-state functional MRI and arterial spin labeling imaging to compare functional connectivity strength (FCS) and CBF between the two groups. The CBF–FCS coupling of the whole gray matter and specific regions of interest was also compared between the groups.Results: Compared with healthy individuals, CBF–FCS coupling was significantly lower in CSM patients. The decrease in CBF–FCS coupling in CSM patients was observed in the superior frontal gyrus, bilateral thalamus, and right calcarine cortex, whereas the increase in CBF–FCS coupling was observed in the middle frontal gyrus. Moreover, low CBF and high FCS were observed in sensorimotor cortices and visual cortices, respectively.Conclusion: In general, neurovascular decoupling at cortical level may be a potential neuropathological mechanism of CSM.

Brain MRI changes in degenerative cervical myelopathy: a systematic review

“…1 ). 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65

Fig. 1 PRISMA flow diagram of study selection .

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“…A total of 36 studies explored functional changes in 1200 patients with DCM before surgical intervention ( Supplementary Data 6 ). Of these, 19 assessed FC, 21 , 23 , 24 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 nine assessed activation/VOA, 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 eight assessed ALFF, 21 , 39 , 44 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 five utilised graph theory analysis, 30 , 40 , 41 , 60 , 61 three assessed BOLD signal changes, 30 , 47 , 50 and three assessed ReHo. 21 , 39 , 62 Functional changes in anatomical brain regions of 73% (871/1200) of patients with DCM were compared against HCs and mapped onto the Desikan-Killiany atlas ( Fig.…”

“…Six studies utilised ‘other’ MRI techniques in 142 patients with DCM before surgical intervention ( Supplementary Data 7 ), of which four analysed metabolite concentrations, 26 , 49 , 63 , 64 and two analysed cerebral blood flow. 36 , 65 …”

“…A total of 43 papers explored the correlational relationships between brain changes before surgery and clinical measures ( Table 3 ). Studies analysed associations with: GMV/WMV (n = 6), 19 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 FC (n = 15), 23 , 24 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 44 , 45 activation/VOA (n = 4), 46 , 47 , 48 , 50 ALFF (n = 8), 21 , 39 , 44 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 graph theory (n = 2), 30 , 60 BOLD signal (n = 2), 30 , 50 ReHo (n = 3), 21 , 39 , 62 metabolites (n = 2), 49 , 64 and CBF (n = 2). 36 , 65 Correlations were most commonly reported with the JOA, although several studies reported no associations.…”

Brain Structural and Functional Dissociated Patterns in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A Case-Controlled Retrospective Resting-State fMRI Study

“…A recent study reported that gFCD is a key biomarker for various diseases ( 45 ). Although previous studies reported the aberrations in GMV and gFCD as important characteristics of DCM ( 18 , 46 , 47 ), the associations between the spatial distribution patterns of GMV and gFCD alterations remain unexplored.…”