Functional differences in key brain regions in patients with different levels of consciousness after severe brain injury
10.3760/cma.j.cn115354-20220415-00237
- VernacularTitle:严重脑损伤后不同意识水平患者关键脑区的功能差异
- Author:
Weiguan CHEN
1
;
Ye ZHANG
;
Yue ZHOU
;
Xi XU
;
Aisong GUO
;
Xuejun ZHOU
;
Weiqun SONG
Author Information
1. 南通大学附属医院康复医学科，南通 226001
- Keywords:
Prolonged disorders of consciousness;
Resting-state functional MRI;
Regional homogeneity;
Level of consciousness;
Brain network function
- From:
Chinese Journal of Neuromedicine
2022;21(6):593-599
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To observe the functional differences in the key brain areas in patients with different levels of consciousness after severe brain injury, and provide reference for confirming the objective diagnosis indicators for prolonged disorders of consciousness.Methods:Thirty right handedness patients with different levels of consciousness after severe brain injury (initial post-traumatic Glasgow coma scale scores<9), admitted to our hospital from January 2016 to December 2020, were chosen in our study. The levels of consciousness of these patients were assessed by revised Coma Recovery Scale (CRS-R); according to the diagnostic criteria of prolonged disorders of consciousness, 8 patients were into group of unresponsive wakefulness syndrome/vegetative state (UWS/VS), 8 patients were into group of micro-conscious state (MCS), 6 patients were into group of emergence from MCS (eMCS), and 8 were into group of locked-in syndrome (LIS). The regional homogeneity (ReHo) was used to analyze resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data to explore the differences of brain functional activity in patients with different levels of consciousness.Results:Strong resting-state activities were noted in the right middle temporal gyrus of the UWS/VS patients, the left culmen and inferior parietal lobule of the MCS patients, the left superior occipital gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus of eMCS patients, and the left inferior temporal gyrus and cingulate gyrus of the LIS patients. As compared with that in the UWS/VS patients, the ReHo value of the left insula in the MCS patients was significantly enhanced (voxel=1 341, t=-5.380, P<0.05); as compared with the those in the eMCS patients, the peak brain area with reduced ReHo value in the MCS patients was the left culmen (voxel=549, t=-5.377, P<0.05), while the peak brain area with enhanced ReHo value was the left insula (voxel=438, t=3.751, P<0.05); as compared with that in the LIS patients, the peak brain areas of enhanced ReHo in the MCS patients were the left medial frontal gyrus (voxel=1 014, t=5.406, P< 0.05) and left extra-nuclear (voxel=229, t=4.115, P<0.05), while the peak brain areas of enhanced ReHo in the eMCS patients was the left medial frontal gyrus (voxel=421, t=3.397, P<0.05). Conclusion:In the resting state, there are functional differences in the key brain regions of patients with different levels of consciousness, mainly in the predominant hemisphere, left insula and cerebellum; these regions may be the target regions for objective evaluation of prolonged disorders of consciousness.
