Dataset Information

Injury alters intrinsic functional connectivity within the primate spinal cord.

ABSTRACT: Recent demonstrations of correlated low-frequency MRI signal variations between subregions of the spinal cord at rest in humans, similar to those found in the brain, suggest that such resting-state functional connectivity constitutes a common feature of the intrinsic organization of the entire central nervous system. We report our detection of functional connectivity within the spinal cords of anesthetized squirrel monkeys at rest and show that the strength of connectivity within these networks is altered by the effects of injuries. By quantifying the low-frequency MRI signal correlations between different horns within spinal cord gray matter, we found distinct functional connectivity relationships between the different sensory and motor horns, a pattern that was similar to activation patterns evoked by nociceptive heat or tactile stimulation of digits. All horns within a single spinal segment were functionally connected, with the strongest connectivity occurring between ipsilateral dorsal and ventral horns. Each horn was strongly connected to the same horn on neighboring segments, but this connectivity reduced drastically along the spinal cord. Unilateral injury to the spinal cord significantly weakened the strength of the intrasegment horn-to-horn connectivity only on the injury side and in slices below the lesion. These findings suggest resting-state functional connectivity may be a useful biomarker of functional integrity in injured and recovering spinal cords.

SUBMITTER: Chen LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4434735 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Injury alters intrinsic functional connectivity within the primate spinal cord.

Chen Li Min LM Mishra Arabinda A Yang Pai-Feng PF Wang Feng F Gore John C JC

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20150422 19

Recent demonstrations of correlated low-frequency MRI signal variations between subregions of the spinal cord at rest in humans, similar to those found in the brain, suggest that such resting-state functional connectivity constitutes a common feature of the intrinsic organization of the entire central nervous system. We report our detection of functional connectivity within the spinal cords of anesthetized squirrel monkeys at rest and show that the strength of connectivity within these networks ...[more]

PMID: 25902510

Similar Datasets

Project description:Patients with multiple sclerosis present with focal lesions throughout the spinal cord. There is a clinical need for non-invasive measurements of spinal cord activity and functional organization in multiple sclerosis, given the cord's critical role in the disease. Recent reports of spontaneous blood oxygenation level-dependent fluctuations in the spinal cord using functional MRI suggest that, like the brain, cord activity at rest is organized into distinct, synchronized functional networks among grey matter regions, likely related to motor and sensory systems. Previous studies looking at stimulus-evoked activity in the spinal cord of patients with multiple sclerosis have demonstrated increased levels of activation as well as a more bilateral distribution of activity compared to controls. Functional connectivity studies of brain networks in multiple sclerosis have revealed widespread alterations, which may take on a dynamic trajectory over the course of the disease, with compensatory increases in connectivity followed by decreases associated with structural damage. We build upon this literature by examining functional connectivity in the spinal cord of patients with multiple sclerosis. Using ultra-high field 7 T imaging along with processing strategies for robust spinal cord functional MRI and lesion identification, the present study assessed functional connectivity within cervical cord grey matter of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (n = 22) compared to a large sample of healthy controls (n = 56). Patient anatomical images were rated for lesions by three independent raters, with consensus ratings revealing 19 of 22 patients presented with lesions somewhere in the imaged volume. Linear mixed models were used to assess effects of lesion location on functional connectivity. Analysis in control subjects demonstrated a robust pattern of connectivity among ventral grey matter regions as well as a distinct network among dorsal regions. A gender effect was also observed in controls whereby females demonstrated higher ventral network connectivity. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests detected no differences in average connectivity or power of low frequency fluctuations in patients compared to controls. The presence of lesions was, however, associated with local alterations in connectivity with differential effects depending on columnar location. The patient results suggest that spinal cord functional networks are generally intact in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis but that lesions are associated with focal abnormalities in intrinsic connectivity. These findings are discussed in light of the current literature on spinal cord functional MRI and the potential neurological underpinnings.

Dataset Information

Injury alters intrinsic functional connectivity within the primate spinal cord.

Publications

Injury alters intrinsic functional connectivity within the primate spinal cord.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets