Altered spontaneous brain activity patterns in strabismus with amblyopia patients using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation: a resting-state fMRI study

Abstract

ObjectivePrevious studies have demonstrated that strabismus or amblyopia can result in markedly brain function and anatomical alterations. However, the differences in spontaneous brain activities of strabismus with amblyopia (SA) patients still remain unclear. This current study intended to use the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) technique to investigate the intrinsic brain activity changes in SA subjects.Patients and methodsA total of 16 patients with SA (6 males and 10 females) and 16 healthy controls (HCs; 6 males and 10 females) similarly matched in age, gender, and education status were recruited and examined with the resting-state functional MRI. The spontaneous brain activity changes were investigated using the ALFF technique. The receiver operating characteristic curve was performed to classify the mean ALFF signal values of the SA patients from HCs. The correlations between the ALFF values of distinct brain regions and the clinical manifestations in SA patients were evaluated in terms of the Pearson’s correlation analysis.ResultsCompared with HCs, SA patients had significantly decreased ALFF in the left cerebellum posterior lobe, left middle frontal gyrus, and bilateral thalamus. In contrast, SA patients showed increased ALFF values in the right superior frontal gyrus, right precuneus, left cuneus, and bilateral precentral gyrus. Nonetheless, there was no linear correlation between the mean ALFF values in brain regions and clinical features.ConclusionDiverse brain regions including vision-related and motion-related areas exhibited aberrant intrinsic brain activity patterns, which imply the neuropathologic mechanisms of oculomotor disorder and vision deficit in the SA patients.

Enhanced Gray Matter Volume Compensates for Decreased Brain Activity in the Ocular Motor Area in Children with Anisometropic Amblyopia

“…Previous fMRI studies have revealed decreased brain spontaneous activity of the MFG in patients with amblyopia [2,26]. In line with the previous findings [2,26], the decreased ReHo indices may reflect decreased integration abilities in anisometropic amblyopia. The present study also revealed decreased brain spontaneous activity in the right STG (amblyopic eye side) in PAA patients.…”

“…Furthermore, the MFG is thought to contribute to working memory, inhibition, and higher cognitive functions [25]. Previous fMRI studies have revealed decreased brain spontaneous activity of the MFG in patients with amblyopia [2,26]. In line with the previous findings [2,26], the decreased ReHo indices may reflect decreased integration abilities in anisometropic amblyopia.…”

Altered spontaneous brain activity patterns in diabetic patients with vitreous hemorrhage using amplitude of low‑frequency fluctuation: A resting‑state fMRI study

“…The functional diagrams were analyzed as previously described ( 9 ). Briefly, the data were initially filtered through MRIcro software ( ) ( 17 ) and subsequently the rest of the images were pre-processed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM; htt ; The MathWorks, Inc.) and the Data Processing Assistant for rs-fMRI software (DPARSFA; version 4.0; ; Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences).…”

“…Functional MRI (fMRI) detects brain activity by measuring changes related to blood flow ( 7 ). Researchers can analyze cerebral blood flow and metabolism to explore the activation of specific regions of the brain, such as the visual pathways from the retina to the cortex and the spatial organization of the brain, and these analyses can assist in elucidating the pathogenesis of eye diseases ( 8 , 9 ).…”

“…ALFF is widely regarded as a highly accurate and sensitive measurement method that provides an index for evaluating spontaneous neural activity ( 10 ). Previous studies have successfully used ALFF to assess the neurological status of retinal detachment ( 11 ), acute eye pain ( 12 ), primary angle-closure glaucoma ( 13 ) and strabismus with amblyopia ( 9 ). To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to assess the intrinsic brain activity in type-2 diabetic patients with VH and normal controls (NCs), as well as the correlation between the intrinsic brain activity and clinical manifestations, using the ALFF method.…”