RESUMO
Objective: To explore the feasibility of quantitative measurement of cerebral iron using brain network atlas based on quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Methods QSM images of 43 right-handed healthy adult volunteers were registered, which were smoothed and mapped to the standard brain using Matlab software. ROI of bilateral globus pallidus, putamen, caudate nucleus, hippocampus, thalamus, frontal cortex, parietal cortex and occipital cortex were selected from Brainnetome Atlas. The magnetic susceptibility was measured using Matlab software, and ROI of the above areas were manually sketched and measured. The correlation of the magnetic susceptibility values measured with the above 2 methods and the iron concentration results obtained from brain tissue staining of autopsy were analyzed, and the correlation between the magnetic susceptibility values and age were analyzed. Results: The highest measurement value of brain magnetic susceptibility values from Matlab and manually drawn ROI were all found in globus pallidus, then in the putamen, and the lowest was in hippocampus. The brain magnetic susceptibility values measured with Matlab and manual ROI were all highly consistent with autopsy results (r=0.920, P=0.003; r=0.856, P=0.014). The magnetic susceptibility values of male at frontal cortex measured from Matlab ROI was higher than that of female (P0.05), nor between left and right hemispheres brain regions measured with 2 methods (all P>0.05). Conclusion: Quantitative measurement of cerebral iron based on QSM imaging and Brainnetome Atlas has high accuracy and feasibility. The content of brain iron tends to increase with aging. The magnetic susceptibility values of frontal cortex have sex differences.
RESUMO
Neuroimaging has opened new opportunities to study the neural correlates of consciousness, and provided additional information concerning diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic interventions in patients with disorders of consciousness. Here, we aim to review neuroimaging studies in chronic disorders of consciousness from the viewpoint of the brain network, focusing on positron emission tomography, functional MRI, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, electrophysiology, and diffusion MRI. To accelerate basic research on disorders of consciousness and provide a panoramic view of unconsciousness, we propose that it is urgent to integrate different techniques at various spatiotemporal scales, and to merge fragmented findings into a uniform "Brainnetome" (Brain-net-ome) research framework.