Department of Health and Wellness, University of North Carolina at Asheville, One University Heights, Asheville, North Carolina 28804, USA.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2010 Nov;31(11):1772-85. doi: 10.1002/hbm.20977.
Somatosensory deficits have been identified in cerebral palsy (CP), but associated cortical brain activity in CP remains poorly understood. Functional MRI was used to measure blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) responses during three tactile tasks in 10 participants with spastic diplegia (mean age: 18.70 years, SD: 7.99 years; 5 females) and 10 age-matched controls (mean age: 18.60 years, SD: 3.86 years; 5 females). Tactile stimulation involved servo-controlled translation of smooth or embossed surfaces across the right index finger pad; the discrimination tasks with embossed surfaces involved judging whether (1) paired shapes were similar or different, and (2) a rougher set of horizontal gratings preceded or followed a smoother one. Velocity and duration of surface translation was identical across all trials. In addition, an event-related design revealed response dynamics per trial in both groups. Compared to controls, individuals with spastic diplegia had significantly reduced spatial extents in activated cortical areas and smaller BOLD response magnitudes in cortical areas for somatosensation, motor, and goal-directed/attention behaviors. These results provide mechanisms for the widespread somatosensory deficits in CP. The reduced activation noted across multiple cortical areas might contribute to motor deficits in CP.
体感缺陷在脑瘫（CP）中已被确定，但 CP 相关的皮质脑活动仍知之甚少。本研究使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）技术，在 10 名痉挛性双瘫患者（平均年龄：18.70 岁，标准差：7.99 岁；女性 5 名）和 10 名年龄匹配的对照组（平均年龄：18.60 岁，标准差：3.86 岁；女性 5 名）中，测量了 3 种触觉任务期间血氧水平依赖（BOLD）反应。触觉刺激涉及通过右食指垫对光滑或压花表面进行伺服控制的平移；在压花表面上进行的辨别任务包括判断（1）配对形状是否相似或不同，以及（2）一组较粗糙的水平光栅是否先于或后于较光滑的光栅。在所有试验中，表面平移的速度和持续时间均相同。此外，事件相关设计揭示了两组在每次试验中的反应动力学。与对照组相比，痉挛性双瘫患者在体感、运动和目标导向/注意力行为的皮质激活区的空间范围明显缩小，皮质区的 BOLD 反应幅度也较小。这些结果为 CP 中广泛的体感缺陷提供了机制。跨多个皮质区注意到的激活减少可能导致 CP 中的运动缺陷。
