Effect of experimental orthodontic pain on gray and white matter functional connectivity

AimOver 90% of patients receiving orthodontic treatment experience clinically significant pain. However, little is known about the neural correlates of orthodontic pain and which has therefore been investigated in the present study of healthy subjects using an experimental paradigm.MethodsResting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) was performed in 44 healthy subjects 24 hours after an elastic separator had been introduced between the first and the second molar on the right side of the lower jaw and in 49 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control (HC) subjects. A K‐means clustering algorithm was used to identify functional gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) resting‐state networks, and differences in functional connectivity (FC) of GM and WM between the group of subjects with experimental orthodontic pain and HC were analyzed.ResultsTwelve GM networks and 14 WM networks with high stability were identified. Compared with HC, subjects with orthodontic pain showed significantly increased FC between WM12, which includes posterior thalamic radiation and posterior cingulum bundle, and most GM networks. Besides, the WM12 network showed significant differences in FC with three GM‐WM loops involving the default mode network, dorsal attention network, and salience network, respectively.ConclusionsOrthodontic pain is shown to produce an alteration of FC in networks relevant to pain processing, which may be mediated by a WM network relevant to emotion perception and cognitive processing.     

Changed ACC-DMN functional connectivity after acupuncture with deqi for functional dyspepsia treatment: 针刺得气对功能性消化不良患者前扣带回-默认网络功能连接度的影响

ObjectiveTo clarify altered whole brain functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in functional dyspepsia (FD) patients, and then to explore cerebral influence of acupuncture with deqi treating for FD.MethodsThirty-two FD patients and 35 healthy subjects (HS) were firstly scanned by the resting-state blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) to compare differences of ACC-based functional connectivity (FC). Then 32 FD patients were randomized to receive 20 sessions' acupuncture treatment with (n=16) and without deqi (n=16), as well as underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans after treatment. After group re-division according to deqi response, changes of ACC subregions-based resting-state FC (rsFC) were compared between the actual with and without deqi group. Two seeds with bilateral of each were selected as regions of interest (ROIs) of the ACC, including two from the dorsal ACC: S2 (BA24) (x=±5,y=2, z=46, r=3.5 mm) and two from the pregenual ACC: I7 (BA24) (x=±5,y=38, z=6, r=3.5 mm). The clinical changes of the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) that measuring symptoms and quality of life (QOL) were also used to further assess the correlation with ACC subregions rsFC in FD patients.ResultsCompared to HS, FD patients showed significantly increased ACC subregions rsFC with left fusiform gyrus, temporal cortex, hippocampus(HIPP)/amygdala, temporal pole, and right INS, superior occipital gyrus, and bilateral precuneus, superior parietal lobule (SPL), and decreased rsFC with left postcentral/precentral gyrus (PoG/PrG), supplementary motor area (SMA) and right cerebellum. 32 FD patients which were then re-divided into the actual deqi group (n=16) and actual without deqi group (n=16). The decrease of the NDI symptom score(pre-pos) in the actual deqi group was significantly greater than that in the actual without deqi group (P<0.05). Among the two groups, the actual deqi group showed increased ACC subregions rsFC with right SMA and bilateral PrG/PoG, and decreased rsFC with right precuneus, middle occipital gyrus, bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), HIPP/paraHIPP, angular gyrus and SPL after treatment. In addition, the changed NDI QOL scores(pre-post) of the actual deqi group was significantly positively correlated with their Fisher's transformed Z value of the altered ACC subregion (left I7) rsFC with right SPL(r=-0.597, P=0.04<0.05, FDR corrected P>0.05).ConclusionThe results tested the hypothesis that the advantage of deqi on efficacy is related to affecting the ACC subregions rsFC. It suggested that deqi might participate in the adaptive modulation of disrupted relationship between the ACC subregions and the default mode network (DMN).     

Precuneus-related regional and network functional deficits in social anxiety disorder: A resting-state functional MRI study

BackgroundNeuroimaging findings suggest that social anxiety disorder (SAD) may be correlated with changes in regional- or network-level brain function. However, few studies have explored alterations in intrinsic resting cerebral function in patients with SAD at both the regional and network levels, particularly focusing on the theory of mind (ToM)-related regions. This study was performed to investigate changes in neural activity and functional connectivity (FC) in ToM-related regions during the resting state in SAD patients and to determine how these alterations are correlated with the clinical symptoms of SAD.MethodsForty-three SAD patients and 43 matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) scans. First, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) approach was used to explore regional activity. Then, the ToM-related region, i.e., the left precuneus, which showed altered ALFF values, was adopted as a seed for further FC analyses to assess network-level alterations in SAD. Between-group differences were compared using voxel-based two-sample t-tests (P < 0.05, with Gaussian random field correction). Pearson's correlation analyses were performed to examine relationships between alterations in ALFF and FC and clinical symptoms.ResultsCompared with the healthy controls, SAD patients showed decreased ALFF in the bilateral putamen (PUT) and left supplementary motor area (SMA) and increased ALFF in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL), left precuneus and right cerebellar posterior lobe. Moreover, SAD patients exhibited lower connectivity between the left precuneus and the cerebellar posterior lobe, right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The altered ALFF values in the left precuneus and the hypoconnectivity between the left precuneus and left cerebellar posterior lobe were correlated with the patients' clinical symptoms (P < 0.05).ConclusionThe precuneus, a ToM-related region, was altered at both the regional and network level in patients with SAD. Pathological fear and avoidance in SAD were correlated with abnormal regional function in the precuneus, whereas depression and anxiety were primarily correlated with functional deficits in the precuneus-related network. The altered FC within the precuneus-cerebellar region may reflect an imbalance in the neuromodulation of anxiety and depressive symptoms in SAD. These findings may facilitate a greater understanding of potential SAD neural substrates and could be used to identify potential targets for further treatment.     

Brain network topology and future development of freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease: a longitudinal study

Journal of Neurology - Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common disabling gait disturbance in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The objectives of this study were to explore alterations in the topological...     

醒胰汤保留灌肠联合西药治疗急性重症胰腺炎疗效及对患者血清淀粉酶和胃肠动力学的影响

目的:探讨醒胰汤保留灌肠联合西药治疗急性重症胰腺炎(ASP)的疗效及对患者血清淀粉酶(AMY)和胃肠动力学的影响。方法:收集ASP患者160例,依据治疗方式分为A组(西医常规治疗)和B组(醒胰汤保留灌肠联合西药),治疗1周后,比较两组患者临床疗效,血清AMY、血钙(Ca)以及胰脂肪酶(LPS)水平变化,胃肠动力学指标变化,血清炎性因子变化,临床症状恢复时间及住院时间,不良反应发生情况。结果:B组总有效率为93.75%(75/80)显著高于A组80.00%(64/80)(P<0.05); B组血清AMY及LPS水平显著低于A组(P<0.05),Ca水平均显著高于A组(P<0.05); B组OCTT、GAS水平显著低于A组(P<0.05),MTL、VIP水平显著高于A组(P<0.05); B组的肿瘤坏死因子α(TNF-α)、白细胞介素6(IL-6)、白细胞介素8(IL-8)水平均显著低于A组(P<0.05),白细胞介素10(IL-10)显著高于A组(P<0.05); B组患者腹痛缓解时间、发热缓解时间、腹胀缓解时间、肠鸣音恢复时间、禁食时间以及住院时间均较A组显著缩短(P<0.05); B组患者治疗期间不良反应总发生率与A组无显著差异(P>0.05)。结论:醒胰汤保留灌肠联合西药治疗ASP能够有效提高患者临床总有效率,调节血清AMY等实验室相关指标,降低促炎因子水平,促进其临床症状缓解,加快康复进程。     

Hyperactivity in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): The role of executive and non-executive functions

Motor activity of boys (age 8–12 years) with (n = 19) and without (n = 18) ADHD was objectively measured with actigraphy across experimental conditions that varied with regard to demands on executive functions. Activity exhibited during two n-back (1-back, 2-back) working memory tasks was compared to activity during a choice-reaction time (CRT) task that placed relatively fewer demands on executive processes and during a simple reaction time (SRT) task that required mostly automatic processing with minimal executive demands. Results indicated that children in the ADHD group exhibited greater activity compared to children in the non-ADHD group. Further, both groups exhibited the greatest activity during conditions with high working memory demands, followed by the reaction time and control task conditions, respectively. The findings indicate that large-magnitude increases in motor activity are predominantly associated with increased demands on working memory, though demands on non-executive processes are sufficient to elicit small to moderate increases in motor activity as well.