Gray matter volume alterations in patients with strabismus and amblyopia: voxel-based morphometry study

Abstract

This study proposes the use of the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) technique to investigate structural alterations of the cerebral cortex in patients with strabismus and amblyopia (SA). Sixteen patients with SA and sixteen healthy controls (HCs) underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Original whole brain images were analyzed using the VBM method. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between mean gray matter volume (GMV) and clinical manifestations. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to classify the mean GMV values of the SA group and HCs. Compared with the HCs, GMV values in the SA group showed a significant difference in the right superior temporal gyrus, posterior and anterior lobes of the cerebellum, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, and left anterior cingulate cortex. The mean GMV value in the right superior temporal gyrus, posterior and anterior lobes of the cerebellum, and bilateral parahippocampal gyrus were negatively correlated with the angle of strabismus. The ROC curve analysis of each cerebral region confirmed the accuracy of the area under the curve. Patients with SA have reduced GMV values in some brain regions. These findings might help to reveal the potential pathogenesis of SA and its relationship with the atrophy of specific regions of the brain.

A systematic comparison of VBM pipelines and their application to age prediction

“…The reason is that they are both off-the-shelf pipelines and widely used in VBM projects. Regionally, the highest differences were present in the frontal lobe, superior parietal lobule and subcortical regions, specifically with regards to their association to age (Supplementary Material Figures 21,22,23,24) Such differences enhance the risk of emanating different or even sometimes contradictory conclusions. From the projection of similarities between pipelines in the brain (Supplementary Material nifti files), it appears that high correlation values are not located in specific regions, nor is a specific pattern formed.…”

“…ii) Spatial registration/normalization to a reference brain space is performed so that anatomical regions are aligned. The reference space can be either a general template (e.g., or a study-/data-specific template (henceforth referred to as data-template) [22][23][24]. Data-templates are mainly used when comparing healthy subjects to patients to avoid bias due to general templates constructed from healthy populations.…”

A multimodal MRI study of functional and structural changes in concomitant exotropia

“…Abnormal visual input, such as amblyopia, and changes in ocular position, may lead to changes in the development of the visual center, resulting in alterations in GMV ( 29 ). However, the present study excluded patients with amblyopia and anisometropia in the inclusion criteria, thereby minimizing the effects of abnormal visual experience on the changes in central GMV observed in patients with concomitant exotropia without visual acuity abnormalities.…”

A systematic comparison of VBM pipelines and their application to age prediction

“…(ii) Spatial registration/normalization to a reference brain space is performed so that anatomical regions are aligned. The reference space can be either a general template (e.g., MNI-152) or a study-/data-specific template (henceforth referred to as data-template) ( Su et al, 2022 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ; Li et al, 2018 ). Data-templates are mainly used when comparing healthy subjects to patients to avoid bias due to general templates constructed from healthy populations.…”