Altered Brain Activity in Strabismic Amblyopic Children as Determined by Regional Homogeneity: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Qian-Min Ge¹  Qiu-Yu Li¹  Yi Shao¹  Li-Juan Zhang¹  Yi-Cong Pan¹  Hui-Ye Shu¹  Guo-Qian Cai²  Yu Guo²  Xian-Jun Zeng²  Si-Wen Tan³ 

[1] Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China;Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China;The First Clinical Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China;

关键词: strabismus amblyopia;    regional homogeneity;    resting-state functional MRI;    children;    ReHo;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2022.879253

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveEarlier research has determined that amblyopia or strabismus may cause remarkable brain anatomical and functional variations. Nonetheless, thus far, the spontaneous changes in brain activity in children with strabismus amblyopia (SA) remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between abnormal brain activity in children with SA and its behavioral manifestations.Patients and Methods?A total of 24 children with SA (10 male and 14 female children) as well as 24 healthy controls (HCs), including 10 male and 14 female children were closely matched in sex and age, and examined using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The regional homogeneity (ReHo) technique was applied to evaluate spontaneous cerebral activity variations in children with SA and HCs. Moreover, associations between altered ReHo values in distinct cerebral areas and the degree of strabismus were assessed using Pearson correlation analysis.ResultsRemarkably increased ReHo values were observed in the right lingual, right superior frontal medial, bilateral superior parietal, and right inferior parietal gyri of children with SA compared with HCs. In contrast, mean ReHo values in children with SA were lower in the right cerebellum, left superior frontal gyrus, and left putamen nucleus. Furthermore, esotropia showed a positive correlation with ReHo values of the left putamen.ConclusionThe anomalous spontaneous activity changes in several brain areas that are caused by SA may indicate neuropathologic mechanisms of visual deficits and oculomotor disorders in children with SA.

【 授权许可】

Unknown