Disruption of human brain connectivity networks in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy

Abstract

Background: Brain functional plasticity and reorganization in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is increasingly being explored and validated. However, specific topological alterations in functional networks and their role in CSM brain functional reorganization remain unclear. This study investigates the topological architecture of intrinsic brain functional networks in CSM patients using graph theory.Methods: Functional MRI was conducted on 67 CSM patients and 60 healthy controls (HCs). The topological organization of the whole-brain functional network was then calculated using theoretical graph analysis. The difference in categorical variables between groups was compared using a chi-squared test, while that between continuous variables was evaluated using a two-sample t-test. Nonparametric permutation tests were used to compare network measures between the two groups.Results: Small-world architecture in functional brain networks were identified in both CSM patients and HCs. Compared with HCs, CSM patients showed a decreased area under the curve (AUC) of the characteristic path length (FDR q=0.040), clustering coefficient (FDR q=0.037), and normalized characteristic path length (FDR q=0.038) of the network. In contrast, there was an increased AUC of normalized clustering coefficient (FDR q=0.014), small-worldness (FDR q=0.009), and global network efficiency (FDR q=0.027) of the network. In local brain regions, nodal topological properties revealed group differences which were predominantly in the default-mode network (DMN), left postcentral gyrus, bilateral putamen, lingual gyrus, and posterior cingulate gyrus. Conclusions: This study reported altered functional topological organization in CSM patients. Decreased nodal centralities in the visual cortex and sensory-motor regions may indicate sensory-motor dysfunction and blurred vision. Furthermore, increased nodal centralities in the cerebellum may be compensatory for sensory-motor dysfunction in CSM, while the increased DMN may indicate increased psychological processing in CSM patients.

The Correlation between Functional Connectivity of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex and Cervical Spinal Cord Microstructural Injury in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy

“…Besides, Zhou et al [ 14 ] also analyzed the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) within sensorimotor network and its association with impaired spinal segment in CSM patients and then found that the increased ALFF values in the right posterior central gyrus was associated with decreased FA values at the C2 level. Besides, Cao et al [ 15 ] found the altered functional topological organization of sensory-motor regions in CSM patients. However, these studies offered some clues of brain functional reorganization in CSM patients, changes in functional connectivity of the posterior central gyrus, namely, the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), and have not been thoroughly explored.…”

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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Voxel- and tensor-based morphometry with machine learning techniques identifying characteristic brain impairment in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy

“…In addition, our ROI-based MVPA results demonstrated that cognitive networks, including the central executive network (CEN) (PFC, ACC, and parietal cortex), salience network (SN) (insula), and default-mode network (DMN) (PFC, ACC, and precuneus), were the specific brain regions for identifying CSM. A previous study reported that the overall efficiency and nodal topological properties of the DMN were increased in CSM ( 8 , 48 ). Our findings suggested that the changes in cognitive networks in CSM patients could become the characteristic features for the diagnosis of CSM.…”

“…Nevertheless, these features have an unsatisfactory sensitivity of 15%−65% and are not present in all patients with clinical signs ( 6 , 7 ). Functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have focused on the impacts of CSM on the brain ( 8 – 13 ). However, these studies were mostly based on univariate analyses, and their diagnostic value for CSM has not been further confirmed.…”