UCLA Brain Tumor Imaging Laboratory (BTIL), Center for Computer Vision and Imaging Biomarkers, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Radiological Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, 924 Westwood Blvd, Suite 615, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jul 11;14(1):16020. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-67084-9.
Patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) experience structural and functional brain reorganization. However, few studies have investigated the influence of sex on cerebral alterations. The present study investigates the role of sex on brain functional connectivity (FC) and global network topology in DCM and healthy controls (HCs). The resting-state functional MRI data was acquired for 100 patients (58 males vs. 42 females). ROI-to-ROI FC and network topological features were characterized for each patient and HC. Group differences in FC and network topological features were examined. Compared to healthy counterparts, DCM males exhibited higher FC between vision-related brain regions, and cerebellum, brainstem, and thalamus, but lower FC between the intracalcarine cortex and frontal and somatosensory cortices, while DCM females demonstrated higher FC between the thalamus and cerebellar and sensorimotor regions, but lower FC between sensorimotor and visual regions. DCM males displayed higher FC within the cerebellum and between the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and vision-related regions, while DCM females displayed higher FC between frontal regions and the PCC, cerebellum, and visual regions. Additionally, DCM males displayed significantly greater intra-network connectivity and efficiency compared to healthy counterparts. Results from the present study imply sex-specific supraspinal functional alterations occur in patients with DCM.
患有退行性颈椎脊髓病 (DCM) 的患者会经历结构和功能上的大脑重组。然而,很少有研究调查性别对大脑变化的影响。本研究调查了性别对 DCM 和健康对照组 (HC) 患者大脑功能连接 (FC) 和全局网络拓扑的影响。为 100 名患者(58 名男性与 42 名女性)采集了静息状态功能 MRI 数据。对每位患者和 HC 进行了 ROI 间 FC 和网络拓扑特征的描述。检查了 FC 和网络拓扑特征的组间差异。与健康对照组相比,DCM 男性在视觉相关脑区与小脑、脑干和丘脑之间的 FC 更高,而在内距状皮层与额叶和体感皮层之间的 FC 更低,而 DCM 女性在丘脑与小脑和感觉运动区域之间的 FC 更高,而在感觉运动和视觉区域之间的 FC 更低。DCM 男性在小脑内和后扣带皮层 (PCC) 与视觉相关区域之间的 FC 更高,而 DCM 女性在额叶区域与 PCC、小脑和视觉区域之间的 FC 更高。此外,DCM 男性的内网络连接性和效率明显高于健康对照组。本研究的结果表明,DCM 患者存在特定于性别的皮质上功能改变。