Alternations of interhemispheric functional connectivity in children with strabismus and amblyopia: a resting-state fMRI study

Jiaxin Peng,Yicong Pan,Qiuyu Li,Fan Yao,Liying Tang,Ting Su,Wenqing Shi,Yi Shao,Lijuan Zhang,Qianmin Ge,Rongbin Liang

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92281-1

Abstract

Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated that patients with strabismus or amblyopia can show significant functional and anatomical changes in the brain, but alterations of interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) have not been well studied in this population. The current study analyzed whole-brain changes of interhemispheric FC in children with strabismus and amblyopia (CSA) using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC).A total of 24 CSA (16 males and 8 females) and 24 normal controls (NCs) consisting of 16 and 8 age-, sex, and education-matched males and females, respectively, underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans in the resting state. According to Gaussian random field theory, changes in the resting state FC (rsFC) between hemispheres were evaluated using the VMHC method. The relationships between mean VMHC values in multiple brain regions and behavioral performance were evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis. In contrast to NCs, the CSA group showed significantly decreased VMHC values in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral frontal superior orbital (frontal sup orb), bilateral temporal inferior(temporal inf),and bilateral frontal superior(frontal sup). CSA have abnormal interhemispheric FC in many brain regions, which may reflect dysfunction of eye movements and visual fusion. These findings might provide insight into the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms of CSA.

Highlights

Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated that patients with strabismus or amblyopia can show significant functional and anatomical changes in the brain, but alterations of interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) have not been well studied in this population
voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) was significantly decreased in the children with strabismus and amblyopia (CSA) group compared to normal controls (NCs) in four regions: bilateral cerebellum, bilateral frontal sup orb, bilateral temporal inf, and bilateral frontal sup (Fig. 1, Table 2)
Compared with NCs, VMHC values were significantly decreased in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral frontal sup orb, bilateral temporal inf, and bilateral frontal sup in the CSA group

Summary

Introduction

Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated that patients with strabismus or amblyopia can show significant functional and anatomical changes in the brain, but alterations of interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) have not been well studied in this population. The current study analyzed whole-brain changes of interhemispheric FC in children with strabismus and amblyopia (CSA) using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC).A total of 24 CSA (16 males and 8 females) and 24 normal controls (NCs) consisting of 16 and 8 age-, sex, and education-matched males and females, respectively, underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans in the resting state. CSA have abnormal interhemispheric FC in many brain regions, which may reflect dysfunction of eye movements and visual fusion. Strabismus can be divided into comitant and noncomitant forms[3] It is characterized by abnormalities in eye position and movement, can cause binocular vision impairment, and is often associated with amblyopia and stereoscopic vision loss.

Methods

Results

Conclusion