Open AccessAltered structural and functional connectivity between the bilateral primary motor cortex in unilateral subcortical stroke
Author(s) -
Yong Zhang,
Kuangshi Li,
Yanzhe Ning,
Chuanxi Fu,
Hongwei Liu,
Xiao Han,
Fangyuan Cui,
Yi Ren,
Yihuai Zou
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.59
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1536-5964
pISSN - 0025-7974
DOI - 10.1097/md.0000000000004534
Subject(s) - medicine , functional magnetic resonance imaging , fractional anisotropy , stroke (engine) , neuroscience , physical medicine and rehabilitation , magnetic resonance imaging , functional imaging , primary motor cortex , functional connectivity , neuroimaging , resting state fmri , diffusion mri , motor cortex , psychology , radiology , mechanical engineering , stimulation , engineering
A large number of functional imaging studies have focused on the understanding of motor-related neural activities after ischemic stroke. However, the knowledge is still limited in the structural and functional changes of the interhemispheric connections of the bilateral primary motor cortices (M1s) and their potential influence on motor function recovery following stroke. Twenty-four stroke patients with right hemispheric subcortical infarcts and 25 control subjects were recruited to undergo multimodal magnetic resonance imaging examinations. Structural impairments between the bilateral M1s were measured by fractional anisotropy. Functional changes of the bilateral M1s were assessed via M1-M1 resting-state functional connectivity. Task-evoked activation analysis was applied to identify the roles of the bilateral hemispheres in motor function recovery. Compared with control subjects, unilateral subcortical stroke patients revealed significantly decreased fractional anisotropy and functional connectivity between the bilateral M1s. Stroke patients also revealed higher activations in multiple brain regions in both hemispheres and that more regions were located in the contralesional hemisphere. This study increased our understanding of the structural and functional alterations between the bilateral M1s that occur in unilateral subcortical stroke and provided further evidence for the compensatory role played by the contralesional hemisphere for these alterations during motor function recovery.