OBJECTIVETo explore the morphometric abnormalities of brain gray matter (GM) in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

METHODSThirty patients with CLBP and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled and examined with a 3.0 T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner. High-resolution T1 structural MR data were acquired and data analysis was performed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in FMRIB Software Library. The morphological differences were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSs Compared with the healthy control subjects, patients with CLBP showed decreased GM volumes in several brain cortical areas including the bilateral superior frontal gyrus, right frontal pole, left insular cortex, left middle and left inferior temporal gyrus (P<0.05, after TFCE correction). Increased GM volumes were found in the patients in the subcortical structures including the left thalamus, bilateral putamen, bilateral nucleus accumben and right caudate nucleus (P<0.05, after TFCE correction).

CONCLUSIONPatients with CLBP have different patterns of GM abnormalities in different brain regions, characterized by reduced GM volume in cerebral cortical regions and increased GM volume in the subcortical nuclei. Such changes might be associated with the maladaptation of the brain in chronic pain state.

Cerebral Cortex ; Frontal Lobe ; Gray Matter ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; physiopathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Temporal Lobe ; Thalamus

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the axonal sprouting of somatostatin(SS) positive interneurons in temporal lobe epilepsy. METHODS: 6-8 week-old healthy male SD rats were divided randomly into an epileptic group (treated by lithium and pilocarpine intraperitoneal injection) and a control group (by lithium and normal sodium intraperitoneal injection). Each group was randomly divided into 5 subgroups at 1,7,15,30, amd 60 d after the injection. Immunohistochemistry method was used to detect the number changes of SS or neuronal nuclei (NeuN) positive neurons in different domains of the hippocampus at different time points in each group, and the coexpression of SS positive interneurons combined with NeuN was detected by double immunofluorescence to observe the dynamic changes and axonal sprouting of SS positive interneurons. RESULTS: The number of SS neurons in the experimental group exceeded that in the control group in the CA1 area at 60 d post-status epileptieus SE (P<0.01), and numerous SS positive fibers were seen throughout the layers of the CAl area at 60 d post-SE. NeuN positive neurons in the stratum oriens and stratum radiatum layers in the initiation site of the CA1 area were beyond normal at 60 d post-SE. The number of double labeled SS interneurons gradually rose at 15 d in stratum oriens of CA1, and even exceeded that of the controls in the stratum oriens and stratum radiatum layers of CA1 at 60 d. CONCLUSION The numerous SS positive fibers throughout the layers of the CAl area at 60 d post-SE come from the increased interneurons in the stratum oriens and stratum radiatum layers of CA1 area. The pathological axonal sprouting may play an important role in the generation and compensation of temporal lobe epilepsy.
Animals ; Axons ; metabolism ; pathology ; CA1 Region, Hippocampal ; cytology ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Efferent Pathways ; pathology ; physiology ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Interneurons ; cytology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Pilocarpine ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Somatostatin ; metabolism ; Temporal Lobe ; metabolism

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the features of pathophysiological neural networks in rat temporal lobe epileptogenesis. To establish electrogenic epilepsy model, repetitive tetanization (60 Hz, 2 s, 0.4-0.6 mA) was delivered into the right dorsal hippocampus (HPC) of rat brain. Rats were divided into different groups. Experimental animals received tetanic stimulation once a day for 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 days, respectively. Primary wet dog shakes (WEDS) of the animals were recorded daily during the stimulation to understand the development of behavioral seizures at early stage of epilepsy. The T(2)-weighted (T(2)-WI) spin-echo images were obtained from each experimental rat. The results demonstrated that T(2)-WI hyperintensity of experimental rats was observed in bilateral symmetric dorsal lateral ventricle (LV) areas at stimulating day 2 (n=4), in contralateral medial and ventral LV areas to the side of the electrode at stimulating day 6 (n=5), in contralateral ventral LV areas at stimulating day 8 (n=3), and in ipsilateral ventral LV areas at stimulating day 10 (n=4). Therefore the peak rate of primary WEDS appeared on stimulating day 4 in the experimental rats. Morphological identification demonstrated that the T(2)-WI signal abnormalities were related to the enlarged LV and pathological ventricular choroidea plexus hyperplasia. The results suggest that the development of rat brain abnormalities from dorsal LV to ventral LV at early stage of epilepsy can be measured by magnetic resonance image, which implies reorganization of pathophysiologically functional networks before kindling effect appear.
Animals ; Brain ; physiopathology ; Disease Progression ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; diagnosis ; pathology ; In Vitro Techniques ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVE: The prior functional MRI studies have demonstrated significantly abnormal activity in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG) of anxiety patients. The purpose of the current investigation was to determine whether the abnormal activity in these regions was related to a loss of functional connectivity between these regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy controls and 10 anxiety patients underwent noninvasive fMRI while actively listening to emotionally neutral words alternated by silence (Task 1) or threat-related words (Task 2). The participants were instructed to silently make a judgment of each word's valence (i.e., unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral). A coherence analysis was applied to the functional MRI data to examine the functional connectivity between the left and the right STG, which was selected as the primary region of interest on the basis of our prior results. RESULTS: The data demonstrated that the anxiety patients exhibited significantly increased activation in the bilateral STG than the normal controls. The functional connectivity analysis indicated that the patient group showed significantly decreased degree of connectivity between the bilateral STG during processing Task 2 compared to Task 1 (t = 2.588, p = 0.029). In addition, a significantly decreased connectivity was also observed in the patient group compared to the control group during processing Task 2 (t = 2.810, p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: Anxiety patients may exhibit increased activity of the STG but decreased functional connectivity between the left and right STG, which may reflect the underlying neural abnormality of anxiety disorder, and this will provide new insights into this disease.
Adult ; Anxiety Disorders/pathology/*physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Emotions/physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Temporal Lobe/pathology/*physiopathology

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a common and severe neurological disorder which is often intractable. It can not only damage the normal structure and function of hippocampus, but also affect the neurogenesis in dentate gyrus (DG). It is well documented from researches on the animal models of TLE that after a latent period of several days, prolonged seizure activity leads to a dramatic increase in mitotic activity in the hippocampal DG. However, cell proliferation returns to baseline levels within 3-4 weeks after status epilepticus (SE). Meanwhile, there are two major abnormalities of DG neurogenesis, including the formation of hilar basal dendrites and the ectopic migration of newborn granule cells into the polymorphic cell layer, which may affect epileptogenesis and seizure onset. However, the specific contribution of these abnormalities to seizures is still unknown. In other words, whether they are anti-epileptic or pro-epileptic is still under heated discussion. This article systematically reviews current knowledge on neurogenesis and epilepsy based on the results of studies in recent years and discusses the possible roles of neurogenesis in epileptogenesis and pathologic mechanisms, so as to provide information for the potential application of neurogenesis as a new clinical therapeutic target for temporal lobe epilepsy.
Animals ; Brain ; Cell Movement ; physiology ; Cell Proliferation ; physiology ; Dendrites ; pathology ; Dentate Gyrus ; growth & development ; pathology ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; etiology ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Hippocampus ; growth & development ; pathology ; Humans ; Mitosis ; physiology ; Neurogenesis ; physiology ; Neurons ; pathology ; Seizures ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Status Epilepticus ; physiopathology

We tried to investigate the incidence and the clinical profile of intractable epilepsy with hippocampal atrophy and ictal onset zones located in areas other than the hippocampus (extra-medial-temporal epilepsy; EMTE). We included patients who had hippocampal atrophy confirmed by MRI but with extra-medial-temporal ictal onset zones as verified by invasive intracranial electrodes or video-EEG monitoring. The case histories, interictal EEG, ictal semiology, other MRI findings in addition to hippocampal atrophy, and results of ictal SPECT and PET scans were evaluated. Results were compared with those of surgically proven medial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal atrophy recruited during the same period. 8.5% of the intractable epilepsy patients with hippocampal atrophy had extra-medial temporal epileptogenic zones. A history of encephalitis and hemiconvulsion-hemiparesis were significantly common in the EMTE group. Most of the interictal EEGs of EMTE patients showed extratemporal irritative zones. MRI, ictal SPECT, and FDG-PET seemed to be helpful at localizing the true epileptogenic zones. The predominant EMTE seizure type was focal motor seizure with secondary generalization. Some portion of intractable epilepsy patients with hippocampal atrophy had extra-medial-temporal epileptogenic foci and careful analysis of semiology and neuroimagings could yield clues to correct diagnosis.
Adult ; Atrophy ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy/physiopathology ; Epilepsy/epidemiology* ; Epilepsy/diagnosis ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/epidemiology ; Hippocampus/pathology* ; Human ; Incidence ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, Emission-Computed ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have revealed the deactivation phenomenon of default mode network in the patients with epilepsy; however, nearly not any of the reports has focused on the dorsal attention network of epilepsy. In this paper, independent component analysis (ICA) was used to isolate the dorsal attention network of 16 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and of 20 healthy normals; and a goodness-of-fit analysis was applied at the individual subject level to choose the interesting component. Intra-group analysis and inter-group analysis were performed. The results indicated that the dorsal attention network included bilateral intraparietal sulcus, middle frontal gyrus, human frontal eye field, posterior lobe of right cerebellum, etc. The TLE group showed decreased functional connectivity in most of the dorsal attention regions with the predominance in the bilateral intraparietal sulcus, middle frontal gyrus, and posterior lobe of right cerebellum. These data suggested that the intrinsic organization of the brain function might be disrupted in TLE. In addition, the decrease of goodness-of-fit scores suggests that activity in the dorsal attention network may ultimately prove a sensitive biomarker for TLE.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Attention ; physiology ; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Brain Mapping ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; pathology ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Nerve Net ; physiopathology ; Principal Component Analysis ; methods ; Young Adult