NeuroImage. Clinical
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2014
Assessment of the structural brain network reveals altered connectivity in children with unilateral cerebral palsy due to periventricular white matter lesions.
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a term to describe the spectrum of disorders of impaired motor and sensory function caused by a brain lesion occurring early during development. Diffusion MRI and tractography have been shown to be useful in the study of white matter (WM) microstructure in tracts likely to be impacted by the static brain lesion. ⋯ This study shows that network-based analysis of structural connectivity can identify alterations in FA in unilateral CP, and that these alterations in FA are related to clinical function. Application of this connectome-based analysis to investigate alterations in connectivity following treatment may elucidate the neurological correlates of improved functioning due to intervention.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2014
Specific brain morphometric changes in spinal cord injury with and without neuropathic pain.
Why only certain patients develop debilitating pain after spinal chord injury and whether structural brain changes are implicated remain unknown. The aim of this study was to determine if patients with chronic, neuropathic below-level pain have specific cerebral changes compared to those who remain pain-free. Voxel-based morphometry of high resolution, T1-weighted images was performed on three subject groups comprising patients with pain (SCI-P, n = 18), patients without pain (SCI-N, n = 12) and age- and sex-matched controls (n = 18). ⋯ In the visual cortex, SCI-N showed increased grey matter, whilst the SCI-N showed reduced white matter. In conclusion, structural changes in SCI are related to the presence and degree of below-level pain and involve but are not limited to the sensorimotor cortices. Pain-related structural plasticity may hold clinical implications for the prevention and management of refractory neuropathic pain.