Chen Yu-Chen, Xia Wenqing, Feng Yuan, Li Xiaowei, Zhang Jian, Feng Xu, Wang Cong-Xiao, Cai Yu, Wang Jian, Salvi Richard, Teng Gao-Jun
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Department of Radiology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China ; Center for Hearing and Deafness, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA.
Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China ; Center for Functional Neuroimaging, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:345647. doi: 10.1155/2015/345647. Epub 2015 Feb 19.
Purpose. Recent studies suggest that tinnitus may be due in part to aberrant callosal structure and interhemispheric interaction. To explore this hypothesis we use a novel method, voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC), to examine the resting-state interhemispheric functional connectivity and its relationships with clinical characteristics in chronic tinnitus patients. Materials and Methods. Twenty-eight chronic tinnitus patients with normal hearing thresholds and 30 age-, sex-, education-, and hearing threshold-matched healthy controls were included in this study and underwent the resting-state fMRI scanning. We computed the VMHC to analyze the interhemispheric functional coordination between homotopic points of the brain in both groups. Results. Compared to the controls, tinnitus patients showed significantly increased VMHC in the middle temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and superior occipital gyrus. In tinnitus patients, a positive correlation was found between tinnitus duration and VMHC of the uncus. Moreover, correlations between VMHC changes and tinnitus distress were observed in the transverse temporal gyrus, superior temporal pole, precentral gyrus, and calcarine cortex. Conclusions. These results show altered interhemispheric functional connectivity linked with specific tinnitus characteristics in chronic tinnitus patients, which may be implicated in the neuropathophysiology of tinnitus.
目的。近期研究表明,耳鸣可能部分归因于胼胝体结构异常和半球间相互作用。为探究这一假设,我们采用一种新方法,即体素镜像同伦连接性(VMHC),来检查慢性耳鸣患者静息状态下的半球间功能连接及其与临床特征的关系。材料与方法。本研究纳入了28名听力阈值正常的慢性耳鸣患者以及30名年龄、性别、教育程度和听力阈值匹配的健康对照者,并对他们进行了静息态功能磁共振成像扫描。我们计算了VMHC,以分析两组大脑同伦点之间的半球间功能协调性。结果。与对照组相比,耳鸣患者在颞中回、额中回和枕上回的VMHC显著增加。在耳鸣患者中,发现耳鸣持续时间与钩回的VMHC呈正相关。此外,在颞横回、颞上极、中央前回和距状皮质观察到VMHC变化与耳鸣痛苦之间的相关性。结论。这些结果表明,慢性耳鸣患者中半球间功能连接改变与特定耳鸣特征相关,这可能与耳鸣的神经病理生理学有关。