title: Intrinsic functional plasticity of the sensory-motor network in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy.
abstract: Several neuroimaging studies have suggested brain reorganisation in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM); however, the changes in spontaneous neuronal activity that are associated with connectedness remain largely unknown. In this study, functional connectivity strength (FCS), a data-driven degree centrality method based on a theoretical approach, was applied for the first time to investigate changes in the sensory-motor network (SMN) at the voxel level. Comparatively, CSM not only showed significantly decreased FCS in the operculum-integrated regions, which exhibited reduced resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) around the Rolandic sulcus, but it also showed increased FCS in the premotor, primary somatosensory, and parietal-integrated areas, which primarily showed an enhanced rsFC pattern. Correlation analysis showed that altered FCS (in the left premotor-ventral/precentral-operculum, right operculum-parietale 4, and right S1) was associated with worsening Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores and that the rsFC pattern was influenced by cervical cord micro-structural damage at the C2 level. Together, these findings suggest that during myelopathy, the intrinsic functional plasticity of the SMN responds to the insufficient sensory and motor experience in CSM patients. This knowledge may improve our understanding of the comprehensive functional defects found in CSM patients and may inspire the development of new therapeutic strategies in the future.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC [2] Jiangxi Province Medical Imaging Research Institute, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC [3] Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: F Q
authors.initials: FQ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC.
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC [2] Jiangxi Province Medical Imaging Research Institute, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Second Hospital of Nanchang, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330003, PRC.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC [2] Jiangxi Province Medical Imaging Research Institute, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC.
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC [2] Jiangxi Province Medical Imaging Research Institute, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 330006, PRC.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*