title: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Functional MRI Investigation of Motor Neuron Disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To assess the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in motor neuron disease (MND), a systematic review and voxelwise meta-analysis of studies comparing brain activity in patients with MND and in healthy controls was conducted to identify common findings across studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search for related papers published in English and Chinese was performed in Ovid Medline, Pubmed, and Embase database. Voxelwise meta-analysis was performed using signed differential mapping.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings from 55 fMRI studies on MND were tabulated, and some common findings were discussed in further details.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings are preliminary, sometimes even contradictory, and do not allow a complete understanding of the functional alterations in MND. However, we documented reliable findings that MND is not confined to the motor system, but is a multisystem disorder involving extra-motor cortex areas, causing cognitive dysfunction and deficits in socioemotional and sensory processing pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Dongchao
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College , Beijing , China ; Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Junfang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; fMRI; meta-analysis; motor neuron disease; systematic review