title: Prefrontal Hemodynamic Functions during a Verbal Fluency Task in Blepharospasm Using Multi-Channel NIRS.
abstract: Blepharospasm (BSP) has a morbidity of 16 to 133 per million and is characterized by orbicularis oculi spasms. BSP can severely impact daily life. However, to date, its pathophysiology has not been clearly demonstrated. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a portable, non-invasive, and high time resolution apparatus used to measure cerebral blood flow. This study aimed to investigate the hemodynamic response patterns of BSP patients and determine whether BSP alone can be an attributional factor to influence the function of the prefrontal area using a verbal fluency task (VFT) and NIRS. Twenty-three BSP patients (10 males and 13 females) and 13 healthy controls (HC; five males and eight females) matched by gender and education were examined using NIRS. BSP patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of depression and anxiety symptoms. A covariance analysis was conducted to analyze differences between the three groups and reduce the influence of different ages and educational levels. Bonferroni was used to process the post hoc test. The bilateral orbitofrontal area (ch36, 39, and 41; P<0.01) exhibited a lower activation in BSP patients without psychiatric symptoms compared with HC. This study is the first report to identify the prefrontal function in BSP using NIRS. Our findings indicate that BSP alone may cause a hypoactive hemodynamic performance in the prefrontal cortex in the absence of psychiatric symptoms. These findings provide evidence to support novel pathophysiological mechanisms of BSP.
authors.affiliation: Medical Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.|YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chen-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.|Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Qian
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Medical Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.|YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xia-Jin
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Medical Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.|YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Yun
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Medical Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.|YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Gao-Xiang
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: YuQuan Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Po-Zi
authors.initials: PZ
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D001764:Blepharospasm / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014705:Verbal Behavior
chemical_list: D010108:Oxyhemoglobins