PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) experience structural and functional brain reorganization. However, few studies have investigated the influence of sex on cerebral alterations. The present study investigates the role of sex on brain functional connectivity (FC) and global network topology in DCM and healthy controls (HCs). The resting-state functional MRI data was acquired for 100 patients (58 males vs. 42 females). ROI-to-ROI FC and network topological features were characterized for each patient and HC. Group differences in FC and network topological features were examined. Compared to healthy counterparts, DCM males exhibited higher FC between vision-related brain regions, and cerebellum, brainstem, and thalamus, but lower FC between the intracalcarine cortex and frontal and somatosensory cortices, while DCM females demonstrated higher FC between the thalamus and cerebellar and sensorimotor regions, but lower FC between sensorimotor and visual regions. DCM males displayed higher FC within the cerebellum and between the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and vision-related regions, while DCM females displayed higher FC between frontal regions and the PCC, cerebellum, and visual regions. Additionally, DCM males displayed significantly greater intra-network connectivity and efficiency compared to healthy counterparts. Results from the present study imply sex-specific supraspinal functional alterations occur in patients with DCM.
摘要：
患有退行性脊髓型颈椎病（DCM）的患者经历了结构和功能的大脑重组。然而,很少有研究调查性别对大脑改变的影响。本研究调查了性别对DCM和健康对照（HC）中大脑功能连通性（FC）和全局网络拓扑的作用。获得了100例患者的静息状态功能MRI数据（58例男性与42female).对每个患者和HC的ROI到ROIFC和网络拓扑特征进行表征。研究了FC和网络拓扑特征的组差异。与健康的同行相比，DCM男性在视觉相关的大脑区域之间表现出更高的FC，还有小脑,脑干,还有丘脑,但是在体内皮质和额叶和体感皮质之间的FC较低，而DCM女性在丘脑与小脑和感觉运动区域之间表现出更高的FC，但感觉运动和视觉区域之间的FC较低。DCM男性在小脑内以及后扣带皮质（PCC）和视觉相关区域之间显示出更高的FC，虽然DCM女性在额叶区域和PCC之间显示出更高的FC，小脑,和视觉区域。此外,与健康的男性相比，DCM男性显示出更高的网络内连通性和效率。本研究的结果表明，DCM患者会发生性别特异性的脊柱上功能改变。
