震动触觉刺激fMRI评价先天性耳聋婴幼儿听觉及语言中枢功能的可行性

目的 评价震动触觉刺激fMRI在先天性极重度耳聋婴幼儿听皮质、语言中枢功能检测中的可行性。方法 选取先天性极重度感音神经性耳聋患儿19例(聋儿组)及听力正常幼儿7名(对照组),分别采集轴位SE T1WI、GRE-EPI fMRI以及全脑三维扫描影像。采用组块设计方法分别给予右小腿近踝部震动触觉刺激。所有图像均采用统计参数图5(SPM5)进行后处理,利用SPM5二次统计模块进行聋儿组与对照组的组内分析和组间比较。结果 聋儿组患儿在给予右小腿近踝部震动触觉刺激时,双侧颞横回、颞上回(BA41区、BA42/22区)可见明显激活。对照组在给予相同刺激时听觉中枢激活不明显。语言中枢包括额中回、额下回、颞上回、颞中回、角回,可见明显激活。聋儿组与对照组进行组间比较发现,聋儿组数据减去对照组数据时可见激活的脑区主要有双侧颞横回、双侧颞上回。结论 震动触觉刺激fMRI可用于评价先天性感音神经性耳聋婴幼儿听觉及语言相关脑区功能。

Feasibility of vibra-tactile fMRI for auditory and language-related cortical function in infants with congenital sensorineural hearing loss

Objective To investigate feasibility of vibra-tactile fMRI for auditory and language-related cortical function in infants with congenital sensorineural hearing loss. Methods Totally 19 infants with profoundly congenital hearing loss (deafness group) and 7 hearing normal infants (control group) were included. All infants underwent anatomical SE T1WI, GRE-EPI fMRI and high-resolution 3D GRE T1WI with a 1.5T whole body MRI scanner. All infants were given the vibrotactile stimulation on the right leg adjacent to the ankle. Block-design paradigm was used in fMRI. Statistical parameter mapping 5 (SPM5) was used to process all of the image data. Groups and inter-groups analysis were performed using the second level analysis of SPM5. Results After given vibrotactile stimulation, the auditory cortex was obviously activated in deafness group, including bilateral transverse temporal gyri and superior temporal gyrus (BA41, BA42/22). No obviously activated auditory cortex was seen in control group with same stimulation. Language related areas could be activated in both deafness group and control group. Activated language related areas included middle and inferior frontal gyri, middle and superior temporal gyri and angular gyrus. The results of inter-groups comparison showed that only bilateral temporal transverse gyri and bilateral temporal superior gyri were activated when the data from deafness group subtracted that from control group. Conclusion Vibra-tactile fMRI can be used for observation of auditory and language-related cortex in infants with congenital sensorineural hearing loss.