Objective To study the changes of cognitive function and brain microstructure of patients with benign epilepsy of childhood with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) from neuropsychological test and voxel-based morphometry.Methods Sixteen patients with BECTS and 16 healthy volunteers,who were matched in gender,age and education,were enrolled in this study from May 2014 to May 2015 in the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College.The cognitive function and morphometry of the subjects were evaluated by neuropsychological test (full scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ),verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ) and performance intelligence quotient (PIQ)) and high-resolution T1-weighted imaging scanning.Thereafter,these data were analyzed with Student's t test,Chi-squared test and correlation analysis.Results (1) FSIQ(79.3±13.3),VIQ(82.3±12.1) andPIQ(81.3±10.3)ofBECTS group were significantly lower than the control group (107.0 ± 6.4,101.6 ± 6.5,114.8 ± 6.2;t =9.511,7.521,16.360,all P ＜0.01).(2) Patients with BECTS showed significantly increased gray matter volume in the bilateral putamen,paracentral lobule and right supplementary motor area (P ＜ 0.05,FDR-corrected).(3) A significant negative correlation was found between the gray matter volume of the left putamen and age of epilepsy onset (r=-0.586,P=0.017).Conclusions (1) There is a certain degree of cognitive impairment in patients with BECTS.(2) Patients with BECTS have some changes in brain microstructure.Genetic factors could indirectly influence the children's brain developmental trajectory,and the age of onset may be associated with the changes on the brain microstructure.

Objective Aδ and C fiber nociceptors can be excited when people received contact heat stimulation(CHS) and this excitation may be reflected by functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI).The aim of this study was to observe the different fMRI characteristics in CHS with distinct temperatures in healthy people and to explore the pain related functional network.Depending on the fMRI results,we can evaluate the values of CHS-fMRI during the research of brain functional connectivity.Methods Twenty-two healthy volunteers were recruited to this study.During the acquisition of fMRI,the right dorsal forearm received two different CHS in 41 and 51 degree respectively(41 ℃ CHS-fMRI group and 51 ℃ CHS-fMRI group),and two series of fMRI data were obtained for each subject.The brain activation was obtained by using one sample t test for the 41 ℃CHS-fMRI group and 51 ℃CHS-fMRI group separately.The difference between 41 ℃ CHS-fMRI group and 51 ℃ CHS-fMRI group was analyzed by paired-sample t-test.Result These activated brain areas in 41 ℃ CHS-fMRI group included bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG),contralateral transverse temporal gyrus,contralateral amygdala,bilateral insula,bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG),contralateral hippocampus,bilateral putamen,contralateral supramarginal,ipsilateral postcentral,ipsilateral inferior parietal lobule,ipsilateral middle temporal gyrus (MTG),bilateral cerebelum,bilateral middle cingulate cortex and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex.These activated brain areas in 51 ℃ CHS-fMRI group included bilateral STG,bilateral amygdala,contralateral hippocampus,bilateral thalamus,contralateral putamen,bilateral insula,bilateral IFG,bilateral cerebellum,contralateral postcentral,contralateral superior parietal lobule,bilateral MTG,bilateral precuneus,and contralateral cuneus.Compared with 41 ℃ CHS-fMRI group,the 51 ℃ CHS-fMRI group showed higher brain activation in bilateral cerebellum (right:4.455,left:3.891),ipsilateral precuneus (4.150),contralateral insula (3.530),contralateral IFG (3.530),and contralateral postcentral (3.530; t =2.83,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions There are common brain activated areas and specific areas for each group,which suggested that existence of two central pathways activated by Aδ and C fiber which have different effects in perception of pain and have their brain network responsively.It may become one of the ideal pain stimulation methods with CHS-fMRI,which warrant worth further research.