The voxel-based morphometry study of brain gray matter changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
10.3760/cma.j.issn.1005-1201.2013.10.002
- VernacularTitle:采用基于体素的形态测量学方法研究肌萎缩侧索硬化症患者脑灰质的改变
- Author:
Qiuli ZHANG
;
Cuiping MAO
;
Jingxia DANG
;
Jiaoting JIN
;
Chenwang JIN
;
Ming ZHANG
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis;
Magnetic resonance imaging;
Organ size
- From:
Chinese Journal of Radiology
2013;47(10):873-877
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To evaluate the gray matter alterations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)by voxel-based morphometry (VBM),and further analyze the correlation between volume changes of gray matter and clinical characteristics.Methods Twenty-seven non-demented patients with ALS and 27 age and gender matched healthy controls were recruited.FSL-VBM was used to detect whole brain gray matter differences between the two groups.Seven prior ROIs were set to be analyzed,including bilateral precentral gyrus,postcentral gyrus,superior,medial,inferior,middle frontal gyrus,and insular cortex.The mean gray matter density of the ROIs was extracted in order to explore the correlation with several clinical measurements such as disease durations and disease severity scores,by using partial correlation analysis with age as covariates.Results Whole brain analysis showed significant gray matter loss in the left precentral gyrus,superior frontal gyrus and postcentral gyrus (numbers of voxel in clusters were 338,112,127,Z =4.83,4.09,6.42,P ＜0.05,FWE corrected).A prior seven ROIs analysis detected gray matter loss in the left precental gyrus,right precentral gyrus,left postcentral gyrus,superior frontal gyrus and left insular cortex (numbers of voxel in clusters were 1104,34,114,91,107,Z =5.87,3.71,4.26,6.29 and 3.51,P ＜0.05,FWE corrected).No statistical significant correlation between regional gray matter loss and clinical measurements were found.Conclusions Motor and extra-motor gray matter loss are present among patients with ALS,which demonstrates ALS as a multi-system disorder.In contrast to whole brain gray matter analysis,ROI analysis is more sensitive to detect extensive cortical changes.The heterogeneity of disease and sensitivity of method may contribute to the lack of correlation between gray matter volume decrease revealed by VBM and clinical characteristics.
