Du Haoliang, Feng Xu, Qian Xiaoyun, Zhang Jian, Liu Bin, Li Ao, Huang Zhichun, Gao Xia
Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory Medical Discipline, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Department of Research Institution of Otolaryngology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Front Neurosci. 2022 Oct 19;16:976095. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.976095. eCollection 2022.
This study aimed to investigate the differences in intra-regional brain activity and inter-regional functional connectivity between patients with recent-onset tinnitus (ROT) and persistent tinnitus (PT) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), including the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and voxel-wise functional connectivity (FC).
We acquired rs-fMRI scans from 82 patients (25 without recent-onset tinnitus, 28 with persistent tinnitus, and 29 healthy controls). Age, sex, and years of education were matched across the three groups. We performed ALFF, ReHo, and voxel-wise FC analyses for all patients.
Compared with the control group, participants with ROT and PT manifested significantly reduced ALFF and ReHo activity within the left and right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and gyrus rectus (GR). Additional voxel-wise FC revealed decreased connectivity between the dorsolateral SFG (left and right) and the right superior parietal gyrus (SPG), right middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and left medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG) within these two groups. Significant differences were observed between the ROT and PT groups, with the ROT group demonstrating reduced FC.
Our data suggest that patients with PT have more difficulty monitoring external stimuli and reorienting attention than patients with ROT. In addition, patients who perceive higher levels of disruption from tinnitus are more likely to develop persistent and debilitating tinnitus once the tinnitus lasts longer than six months. Therefore, we strongly recommend that clinicians implement effective tinnitus management strategies in patients with ROT as soon as possible.
本研究旨在利用静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI），包括低频波动幅度（ALFF）、局部一致性（ReHo）和体素功能连接（FC），研究近期发作性耳鸣（ROT）患者和持续性耳鸣（PT）患者脑区内部活动及脑区之间功能连接的差异。
我们对82名受试者进行了rs-fMRI扫描（25名无近期发作性耳鸣者、28名持续性耳鸣患者和29名健康对照者）。三组在年龄、性别和受教育年限方面进行了匹配。我们对所有患者进行了ALFF、ReHo和体素FC分析。
与对照组相比，ROT组和PT组受试者在左右背外侧额上回（SFG）和直回（GR）内的ALFF和ReHo活动显著降低。额外的体素FC分析显示，这两组中背外侧SFG（左右）与右侧顶上回（SPG）、右侧额中回（MFG）和左侧额内侧上回（mSFG）之间的连接性降低。ROT组和PT组之间观察到显著差异，ROT组的FC降低。
我们的数据表明，与ROT患者相比，PT患者在监测外部刺激和重新定向注意力方面存在更多困难。此外，耳鸣干扰程度较高的患者一旦耳鸣持续超过六个月，更有可能发展为持续性且使人衰弱的耳鸣。因此，我们强烈建议临床医生尽快对ROT患者实施有效的耳鸣管理策略。
