Functional connectivity and regional spontaneous brain activity in a minimally-conscious state / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the characteristics of functional connectivity (FC) and regional spontaneous brain activity in patients in a minimally-conscious state (MCS).Methods:Resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (rs-fNIRS) was used. Ten minimally-conscious patients were studied along with 12 healthy counterparts as healthy controls (HC). Five minutes of rs-fNIRS data were recorded from each subject and FC and the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFFs) of 53 channels were computed using the NIRS-KIT toolbox. The results were compared between the two groups.Results:Compared with the HC group, a significant decrease was observed in the average FC strength of seventeen channel pairs after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Most were in the right and left frontal pole, as well as the dorsolateral prefrontal lobe. Compared with the HC group, the average fALFF values of Broca′s area (channel 2), the premotor cortex and the supplementary motor cortex (channels 4, 10, and 40), the dorsolateral prefrontal lobe (channels 6, 11, 25, 39), the eye motor area of the frontal lobe (channel 12) and the frontal pole (channels 23, 27, 36) were significantly greater in the MCS group. The fluctuations of the frontal pole (channel 19) were significantly less (after FDR correction).Conclusion:In an MCS spontaneous neural activity is over-active in the prefrontal lobe and some speech- and motor-related brain regions, and coordination of the internal prefrontal functional network is disordered.