title: Altered functional connectivity of the primary visual cortex in subjects with amblyopia.
abstract: Amblyopia, which usually occurs during early childhood and results in poor or blurred vision, is a disorder of the visual system that is characterized by a deficiency in an otherwise physically normal eye or by a deficiency that is out of proportion with the structural or functional abnormalities of the eye. Our previous study demonstrated alterations in the spontaneous activity patterns of some brain regions in individuals with anisometropic amblyopia compared to subjects with normal vision. To date, it remains unknown whether patients with amblyopia show characteristic alterations in the functional connectivity patterns in the visual areas of the brain, particularly the primary visual area. In the present study, we investigated the differences in the functional connectivity of the primary visual area between individuals with amblyopia and normal-sighted subjects using resting functional magnetic resonance imaging. Our findings demonstrated that the cerebellum and the inferior parietal lobule showed altered functional connectivity with the primary visual area in individuals with amblyopia, and this finding provides further evidence for the disruption of the dorsal visual pathway in amblyopic subjects.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaohe
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Tianzi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*