Optic Neuritis and the Visual Pathway: Evaluation of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum by Resting‐State fMRI and Diffusion Tensor MRI

Lopes, Fernanda Cristina Rueda; Alves-Leon, Soniza Vieira; Godoy, J. M.; Scherpenhuijzen, Simone; Fezer, Leticia; Gasparetto, Emerson L.

doi:10.1111/jon.12191

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Resting-state fMRI has been used to explore the functional alterations in the brain in NMO and revealed reduced ALFF and increased synchronization in the visual cortex 6 7 . The rsFC measures the temporal coherence of BOLD signals between every two spatially remote regions or voxels and has been thought to reflect functional integration of the brain 26 27 28 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is characterized by optic nerve damage that may result in structural and functional alterations of the posterior visual pathways via Wallerian degeneration 1 2 3 4 . For example, NMO patients have shown reduced grey matter volume (GMV) 2 5 and altered spontaneous brain activity 6 7 in the visual cortex and impaired integrity in the optic radiation 3 4 5 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Subregional structural and connectivity damage in the visual cortex in neuromyelitis optica

Cai

Zhu

Zhang

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) have shown structural and functional impairments in the visual cortex. We aimed to characterize subregional grey matter volume (GMV) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) changes in the visual cortex in NMO. Thirty-seven NMO patients and forty-two controls underwent structural and functional MRI scans. The GMV and rsFC of each visual subregion were compared between the groups. Compared with controls, NMO patients had GMV reductions in the bilateral V1, V2, V3d, VP, and LO and in the left V3A. In canonical visual pathways, the relatively low-level subregions showed more significant GMV reductions than did the high-level ones. Regardless of GMV correction, NMO patients showed reduced rsFC in the bilateral LO and V4v and in the left V2. The GMVs of the bilateral V1 and LO and of the left V2 and V3d were negatively correlated with clinical disability in NMO patients; these correlation coefficients were associated with hierarchical positions in the visual pathways. These findings suggest that in NMO, the low-level visual subregions have more severe structural damage; structural damage is not the only factor affecting rsFC alterations of visual subregions; GMV reduction in the low-level visual subregions has the highest predictive value for clinical disability.Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is characterized by optic nerve damage that may result in structural and functional alterations of the posterior visual pathways via Wallerian degeneration 1-4 . For example, NMO patients have shown reduced grey matter volume (GMV) 2,5 and altered spontaneous brain activity 6,7 in the visual cortex and impaired integrity in the optic radiation [3][4][5][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] .The visual cortex is a heterogeneous region and has been subdivided into distinct areas; a visual area is defined as a swath of cortex that has similar function, architectonics, connections and topography 15 . However, the structural and functional damage of the visual cortex in NMO at the subregional level remains largely unknown. Investigating the structural and functional damage of the visual subregions in NMO is clinically important because doing so can improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the visual cortex impairment in NMO by answering the following questions: (1) whether the structural damage in the visual subregions is associated with the hierarchical positions in the visual pathways in NMO; (2) whether the structurally impaired visual subregions are also functionally impaired in NMO; and (3) which measure and which visual subregion can better predict clinical disability in NMO patients.To answer these questions, we performed an exploratory study by collecting structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI data from 37 NMO patients and 42 healthy controls. Using the GMV as a measure of structural damage and the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) as a measure of functional damage, we compared the GMV and rsFC differences in each visual subregion between the groups. M...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Subregional structural and connectivity damage in the visual cortex in neuromyelitis optica

Cai

Zhu

Zhang

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Presence of occult white matter damage as measured, for example, by DTI, MTR, or T1 relaxation time, has also remained contentious, presumably again owing to differences in inclusion criteria and different approaches to the correction for multiple comparisons problem (223)(224)(225)(226)(227)(228). Few functional imaging studies with resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) in NMOSD suggest that visual impairment due to severe optic neuritis causes brain network connectivity changes, in particular in visual networks (229)(230)(231)(232). The vast majority of MR spectroscopy studies of the brain has found no clear indication for covert white matter damage (233)(234)(235)(236)(237), and low myoinositol/creatine values in the lesional cervical cord of NMOSD patients suggest astrocytic damage (238).…”

Section: Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders (Nmosd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualizing the Central Nervous System: Imaging Tools for Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders

Kuchling

Paul

2020

Front. Neurol.

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“…Besides the involvement of optic nerve and spinal cord, gray matter (GM) abnormalities have been frequently reported in NMO. NMO patients have shown astrocyte damage and neuron loss in cerebral cortex in pathologic studies (Kawachi & Lassmann, ); altered neuronal activities in resting‐state fMRI studies (Cai et al, ; Liang et al, ; Liu et al, ; Liu et al, ; Lopes et al, ); and reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in structural MRI (Kim et al, ; Liu et al, ; Masuda et al, ; Wang, Zhang et al, ). Several of these alterations have been correlated with cognitive impairment in patients with NMO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered neurovascular coupling in neuromyelitis optica

Guo

Zhu

Zhang

et al. 2018

Human Brain Mapping

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Neurovascular coupling reflects the close relationship between neuronal activity and cerebral blood flow (CBF), providing a new mechanistic insight into health and disease. Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system and shows cognitive decline‐related brain gray matter abnormalities besides the damage of optic nerve and spinal cord. We aimed to investigate neurovascular coupling alteration and its clinical significance in NMO by using regional homogeneity (ReHo) to measure neuronal activity and CBF to measure vascular response. ReHo was calculated from functional MRI and CBF was computed from arterial spin labeling (ASL) in 56 patients with NMO and 63 healthy controls. Global neurovascular coupling was assessed by across‐voxel CBF‐ReHo correlations and regional neurovascular coupling was evaluated by CBF/ReHo ratio. Correlations between CBF/ReHo ratio and clinical variables were explored in patients with NMO. Global CBF‐ReHo coupling was decreased in patients with NMO relative to healthy controls (p = .009). Patients with NMO showed decreased CBF/ReHo ratio (10.9%–17.3% reduction) in the parietal and occipital regions and increased CBF/ReHo ratio (8.0%–13.3% increase) in the insular, sensorimotor, temporal and prefrontal regions. Some of these abnormalities cannot be identified by a single CBF or ReHo analysis. Both abnormally decreased and increased CBF/ReHo ratios were correlated with more severe clinical impairments and cognitive decline in patients with NMO. These findings suggested that patients with NMO show abnormal neurovascular coupling, which is associated with disease severity and cognitive impairments.

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Optic Neuritis and the Visual Pathway: Evaluation of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum by Resting‐State fMRI and Diffusion Tensor MRI

Abstract: The rsfMRI detected cortical reorganization following ON attack, but WM was considerably preserved in the posterior VP.

Cited by 12 publications

References 24 publications

Subregional structural and connectivity damage in the visual cortex in neuromyelitis optica

Subregional structural and connectivity damage in the visual cortex in neuromyelitis optica

Visualizing the Central Nervous System: Imaging Tools for Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders

Altered neurovascular coupling in neuromyelitis optica

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