ABSTRACT
Objective:To compare the differences of brain activation in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) under contact heat stimulation (CHS), and to explore the characteristics of pain-related brain networks in NMOSD and MS patients.Methods:Fourteen NMOSD patients (NMOSD group) and 12 MS patients (MS group) admitted to Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from September 2022 to December 2022 who met the diagnostic criteria were collected. Twelve healthy individuals (HC group) matched with gender and age were recruited during the same period. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score was used to evaluate the pain of the subjects, CHS painful stimuli were given, and task-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were performed at the same time, and the differences in brain activation among the 3 groups were analyzed and compared.Results:(1) Compared with the HC group, the NMOSD group had a stronger activation degree than the HC group in the brain regions including the cortex around the left distance fissure, bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus; the activation degree of the NMOSD group was weaker than that of the HC group in the brain areas including the left medial and paracingulate gyrus, right superior parietal gyrus, left postcentral gyrus, and right supplementary motor area (all P<0.05). (2) Compared with the HC group, the brain regions whose activation degree was weaker in the MS group included the left caudate nucleus, left medial and paracingulate gyrus, left paracentral lobule, right superior parietal gyrus, left postcentral gyrus, left precuneus, right supplementary motor area, right superior temporal gyrus and right thalamus, and there was no brain area in the MS group whose activation degree was stronger than that of the HC group (all P<0.05). (3) Compared with the MS group, the brain regions with stronger activation degree in the NMOSD group included the left perifissure cortex and right thalamus, but no brain regions with weaker activation degree were found in the NMOSD group (all P<0.05). (4) There was a correlation between somatic pain VAS scores and activation of the medial superior frontal gyrus in the NMOSD group ( r=0.66, P<0.05). Conclusions:The results of CHS-fMRI in the NMOSD group, MS group and HC group showed that multiple brain regions were activated, indicating that multiple brain regions were involved in the generation and processing of pain, and there was a pain-related brain network. Pain-related brain networks were altered in NMOSD patients and MS patients, and there were differences in pain-related brain networks between the two diseases.
ABSTRACT
Objective:To observe the changes in brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in migraine patients under olfactory stimuli and analyze the characteristics of olfactory-related brain networks.Methods:Twenty-seven migraine patients (migraine group) enrolled in the Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from January 2021 to January 2022 were included, and 20 healthy adults were recruited as control group during the same period. All subjects underwent synchronous fMRI scanning under olfactory task stimulation, and magnetic resonance imaging data processing was performed using SPM12 and Matlab2019b softwares, and statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 23.0 software.Results:The activated brain regions in the control group included the left cerebellum, left inferior temporal gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, right anterior central gyrus, insula, right central sulcus, superior marginal gyrus, right lenticular putamen, middle cingulate gyrus, paracentral lobule, and superior parietal gyrus ( P<0.05). The activated brain regions in the migraine group included the left cerebellum, right fusiform gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, right anterior central gyrus, and right posterior central gyrus ( P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the activation intensity of the migraine group was weaker in the right insula, right middle frontal gyrus orbit, left inferior frontal gyrus orbit, right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, right superior occipital gyrus, medial and paracingulate gyrus, and right superior parietal gyrus ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Migraine patients have multiple brain regions involved in olfactory processing and have specific olfactory-related brain networks.