Task-related brain activity and functional connectivity in upper limb dystonia: a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study

Abstract

Significance: Dystonia is a dynamic and complex disorder. Real-time analysis of brain activity during motor tasks may increase our knowledge on its pathophysiology. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive method that enables the measurement of cortical hemodynamic activity in unconstrained environments. Aim: We aimed to explore the feasibility of using fNIRS for the study of task-related brain activity in dystonia. Task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and restingstate functional connectivity were also analyzed. Approach: Patients with idiopathic right-upper limb dystonia and controls were assessed through nonsimultaneous fMRI and fNIRS during a finger-tapping task. Seed-based connectivity analysis of resting-state fMRI was performed in both groups. Results: The fMRI results suggest nonspecific activation of the cerebellum and occipital lobe in dystonia patients during the finger-tapping task with the affected hand. Moreover, fNIRS data show lower activation in terms of oxyhemoglobin and total hemoglobin in the frontal, ipsilateral cortex, and somatosensory areas during this task. In dystonia, both fMRI and fNIRS data resulted in hypoactivation of the frontal cortex during finger tapping with both hands simultaneously. Resting-state functional connectivity analysis suggests that the cerebellar somatomotor network in dystonia has an increased correlation with the medial prefrontal cortex and the paracingulate gyrus. Conclusions: These data suggest that unbalanced activation of the cerebellum, somatosensory, and frontal cortical areas are associated with dystonia. To our knowledge, this is the first study using fNIRS to explore the pathophysiology of dystonia. We show that fNIRS and fMRI are complementary methods and highlight the potential of fNIRS for the study of dystonia and other movement disorders as it can overcome movement restrictions, enabling experiments in more naturalistic conditions.

Altered brain connectivity in hyperkinetic movement disorders: A review of resting-state fMRI

“…For dystonia, 46 articles were included, ( Zhang et al, 2020 , Pan et al, 2019 , Jochim et al, 2018 , Putzel et al, 2018 , Mantel et al, 2018 , Ni et al, 2017 , Huang et al, 2017 , Li et al, 2017 , Long et al, 2017 , Haslinger et al, 2017 , Kiyuna et al, 2017 , Battistella et al, 2016 , Sarasso et al, 2020 , Liu et al, 2016 , Ren et al, 2015 , Bharath et al, 2015 , Dresel et al, 2014 , Delnooz et al, 2015 , Hinkley et al, 2013 , Delnooz et al, 2013 , Delnooz et al, 2012 , Mohammadi et al, 2012 , Wei et al, 2021 , Jiang et al, 2019 , Pan et al, 2021 , Feng e al., 2021 , de Faria et al, 2020 , Norris et al, 2020 , Glickman et al, 2020 , Mantel et al, 2020 , Ma et al, 2021 , Corp et al, 2019 , Fang et al, 2021 , Giannì et al, 2022 , Qin et al, 2019 , Zito et al, 2022 , Kim et al, 2022 , Hou et al, 2022 , Ekmen et al, 2022 , Nieuwhof et al, 2022 , Filip et al, 2022 , Battistella and Simonyan, 2019 , Bianchi et al, 2019 , Kita et al, 2018 , Fuertinger and Simonyan, 2018 , Qin et al, 2018 ) concerning cervical dystonia (CD; n = 14), writer’s cramp (n = 10), laryngeal dystonia (n = 8), musician's dystonia (n = 5), paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (n = 6), blepharospasm (n = 6), oromandibular dystonia (n = 2), dyskinetic cerebral palsy (n = 2), spastic cerebral palsy (n = 1), dystonic tremor (n = 1), and generalized dystonia (n = 1). Most studies matched patients and healthy participants for age and gender.…”

Correlation and underlying brain mechanisms between rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder and executive functions in Parkinson’s disease: an fNIRS study

“…It has been widely used in the field of neuropsychiatry and has great potential in the study of PD ( Ferrari and Quaresima, 2012 ). In fact, several studies using both fNIRS and fMRI have confirmed the effectiveness and reliability of fNIRS and emphasized its potential in the study of dystonia and other movement disorders ( Duan et al, 2012 ; Pierro et al, 2014 ; de Faria et al, 2020 ; Husain et al, 2020 ). Task-state fNIRS research focuses on inducing neural activity and locating related functional brain regions through specific activation.…”

Parkinson’s disease patients show delayed hemodynamic changes in primary motor cortex in fine motor tasks and decreased resting-state interhemispheric functional connectivity: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

“…7,8 fNIRS can potentially study movement disorders such as PD as it can overcome movement restrictions and enable experiments in more natural conditions. 9 Focusing specifically on fine motor skills, fNIRS has been used to discriminate between different motor responses and levels of motor complexity, making it a relevant tool for monitoring changes related to fine motor skills. 10 In addition, fNIRS is a promising approach to studying the presumed contribution of dysfunction within the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) to difficulties in PD patients.…”