Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in multiple-frequency bands in patients with intracranial tuberculosis: a prospective cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is widely used to study brain functional alteration, but there have been no reports of research regarding the application of rs-fMRI in intracranial tuberculosis. The purpose of this prospective, cross-sectional study was to investigate spontaneous neural activity at different frequency bands in patients with intracranial tuberculosis using rs-fMRI with amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) methods. Methods The rs-fMRI data of 31 patients with intracranial tuberculosis and 30 gender-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) were included. The ALFF and fALFF values in the conventional frequency band (0.01−0.08 Hz) and 2 sub-frequency bands (slow-4: 0.027–0.073 Hz; slow-5: 0.01–0.027 Hz) were calculated and compared between the groups. The resultant T-maps were corrected using the Gaussian random field (GRF) theory (voxel P<0.01, cluster P<0.05). Correlations between the ALFF and fALFF values and neurocognitive scores were assessed. Results Compared with the HCs, patients with intracranial tuberculosis showed decreased ALFF in the right paracentral lobule (T=−4.69) in the conventional frequency band, in the right supplementary motor area (T=−4.85) in the slow-4 band, and in the left supplementary motor area (T=−3.76) in the slow-5 band. Compared to the slow-5 band, the voxels with decreased ALFF were spatially more extensive in the slow-4 band. Compared with HCs, patients with intracranial tuberculosis showed decreased fALFF in the opercular parts of the right inferior frontal gyrus (T=−4.50) and the left inferior parietal lobe (T=−4.86) and increased fALFF in the left inferior cerebellum (T=5.84) in the conventional frequency band. In the slow-4 band, fALFF decreased in the opercular parts of the right inferior frontal gyrus (T=−5.29) and right precuneus (T=−4.34). In the slow-5 band, fALFF decreased in the left middle occipital gyrus (T=−4.65) and right middle frontal gyrus (T=−5.05). Conclusions Patients with intracranial tuberculosis showed abnormal intrinsic brain activity at different frequency bands, and ALFF abnormalities in different brain regions could be better detected in the slow-4 band. This preliminary study might provide new insights into understanding the pathophysiological mechanism in intracranial tuberculosis.

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The White Matter Functional Abnormalities in Patients with Transient Ischemic Attack: A Reinforcement Learning Approach

“…In addition, the BOLD signal in fMRI reflects the activation of neurons and global physiological fluctuations [ 93 ], which may influence the estimation of ALFF. The fALFF is a modified index of ALFF that, relative to the ALFF, can improve the sensitivity and specificity to spontaneous neural activities [ 87 , 94 ], may provide us with more sensitive information about low-frequency BOLD fluctuations in WM, and validate abnormal functional neural activity in patients with TIA. However, it is noteworthy that the results of ALFF and fALFF analyses both showed decreased low-frequency neural activities in WM of patients with TIA compared with HCs, which may suggest an impaired function in these motor, emotional, and cognitive-related WM regions caused by TIA onset.…”