Zheng Shasha, Zhang Miao, Wang Xiaoyi, Ma Qingfeng, Shu Hua, Lu Jie, Li Kuncheng
Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China ; Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Brain Informatics, Beijing 100053, China.
Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China.
Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:327270. doi: 10.1155/2014/327270. Epub 2014 Feb 20.
The neuropsychological tests in patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) demonstrated cognitive deficits associated with frontal lobe dysfunction, but the pathophysiological mechanism of memory impairment is not fully understood. This study evaluated relationship between degree of ICA stenosis and frontal activations induced by working memory (WM) task using fMRI. The fMRI data of 21 patients with unilateral ICA stenosis (left/right, 11/10) and 21 controls were analyzed. In comparison with controls, ICA patients demonstrated significant activations in middle frontal gyrus (MFG) bilaterally, particularly in left MFG. In right ICA stenosis, there was slightly less MFG activation than that of controls. Importantly, lower MFG activity was associated with higher stenosis of ipsilateral ICA. For left ICA stenosis, weaker activation in left MFG was negatively correlated with degree of stenosis. Similarly, for right ICA stenosis, there was a significant negative correlation between right ICA stenosis and weaker activation of right MFG. Cognitive impairments in ICA stenosis were associated with frontal lobe dysfunctions. Left ICA stenosis had worse WM impairments than right ICA stenosis, which was affected by the degree of stenosis.
对颈内动脉（ICA）患者进行的神经心理学测试显示出与额叶功能障碍相关的认知缺陷，但记忆损害的病理生理机制尚未完全明确。本研究使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）评估了ICA狭窄程度与工作记忆（WM）任务诱发的额叶激活之间的关系。分析了21名单侧ICA狭窄患者（左侧/右侧，11/10）和21名对照者的fMRI数据。与对照者相比，ICA患者双侧额中回（MFG）出现显著激活，尤其是左侧MFG。在右侧ICA狭窄患者中，MFG激活程度略低于对照者。重要的是，MFG活性降低与同侧ICA更高程度的狭窄相关。对于左侧ICA狭窄，左侧MFG较弱的激活与狭窄程度呈负相关。同样，对于右侧ICA狭窄，右侧ICA狭窄程度与右侧MFG较弱的激活之间存在显著负相关。ICA狭窄患者的认知障碍与额叶功能障碍有关。左侧ICA狭窄比右侧ICA狭窄具有更严重的WM损害，且受狭窄程度影响。
