Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2018 Sep 26;8(1):14406. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-32766-8.
Neural connectivity has recently been shown to be altered after spinal cord injury (SCI) not only in the spinal cord but also in the brain. However, to date, no studies have analyzed the functional alterations after SCI in various areas of the cerebral cortex over time. To examine the plasticity of the neural connectivity in the brain after SCI, we performed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in awake adult mice pre- and post-SCI. After a complete thoracic SCI, the functional connectivity between the primary motor (MOp) and primary sensory (SSp) areas was significantly decreased during the chronic phase. In contrast, the connectivity between the MOp and motivation area was increased. Thus, impairments in sensory and motor connections after SCI led to a time-dependent compensatory upregulation of "motor functional motivation". Moreover, the functional connectivity between the SSp and pain-related areas, such as the caudoputamen (CP) and the anterior cingulate area (ACA), was strengthened during the chronic phase, thus suggesting that rs-fMRI can indicate the presence of neuropathic pain after SCI. Therefore, rs-fMRI is a useful tool for revealing the pathological changes that occur in the brain after SCI.
神经连接最近已经被证明在脊髓损伤 (SCI) 后不仅在脊髓中，而且在大脑中发生改变。然而，迄今为止，尚无研究分析 SCI 后大脑各个皮质区域随时间推移的功能变化。为了研究 SCI 后大脑中神经连接的可塑性，我们在 SCI 前和后对清醒的成年小鼠进行了静息态功能磁共振成像 (rs-fMRI)。在完全胸段 SCI 后，在慢性期初级运动 (MOp) 和初级感觉 (SSp) 区之间的功能连接显著降低。相比之下，MOp 和动机区之间的连接增加了。因此，SCI 后感觉和运动连接的损伤导致了“运动功能动机”的时间依赖性代偿上调。此外，在慢性期，SSp 和与疼痛相关的区域（如尾壳核 (CP) 和前扣带皮层区 (ACA)）之间的功能连接增强，这表明 rs-fMRI 可以指示 SCI 后存在神经性疼痛。因此，rs-fMRI 是揭示 SCI 后大脑发生病理变化的有用工具。
