Age-related changes in brain functional networks under multisensory-guided hand movements assessed by the functional near - Infrared spectroscopy.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore the age-related effects of hand rehabilitation training under multisensory stimulation interaction on brain functional networks. METHODS: A multisensory stimulation training glove (MSTG) was designed to realize 3 sensory guidance modes, namely audio-visual guidance (AVG), visual guidance (VG) and no guidance (NG). This study recruited 20 older subjects as the experimental group and 22 young people as the control group. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to monitor haemoglobin concentration in the motor cortex (MC), prefrontal cortex (PFC), temporary lo be (TL) and occipital lobe (OL) under three different guidance stages, and further analysed the cortical activation and functional connectivity (FC). RESULTS: Multisensory guidance stage showed more activation and higher FC in all subjects. The activated brain regions of the older subjects showed bilateral activation, which is consistent with the Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older Adults (HAROLD) model. In terms of brain region coordination, older people have a more balanced and denser functional network in the left and right hemispheres compared to younger people. Meanwhile, multisensory stimulation produced a positive training effect on the number of training and reaction time. CONCLUSION: Audio-visual combined stimulation had a significant gain effect on hand training at different ages. However, older adults induce a wider range of cortical activations. At the same time, young and older people have different intercortical coordination networks. All these results provide theoretically and applied references for multisensory stimulation in the prevention and rehabilitation of ageing and brain neurological disorders.

[Analysis on regional homogeneity of resting brain during balance acupuncture-induced analgesic effect in migraine patients without aura].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the relationship between the analgesic effect of balance acupuncture and functional changes in brain in patients with migraine without aura. METHODS: A total of 40 cases of migraine without aura were equally randomized into a headache-acupoint group and a sham-acupoint group. When acupuncture given, a filiform needle was inserted into the headache-acupoint (the midpoint of the depression region anterior to the juncture of the first and second metatarsal bones on the dorsum of the foot) or the sham point (the midpoint of the depression region anterior to the juncture site between the 3rd and 4th metatarsal joints of the dorsum of the foot) about 25-40 mm deep and manipulated for a while till the patient experienced feelings of electric shock and numbness, then withdrawn immediately. The treatment was conducted once daily for 4 weeks. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the severity of pain, and the regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess changes of the spontaneous brain activity. RESULTS: After acupuncture, the analgesic effect of headache-acupoint was better than that of the sham-acupoint in both intervention stage and the follow-up stage (P< 0.05), and was also stronger in the intervention stage than in the follow-up stage (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the analgesic effect between the intervention stage and the follow-up stage in the sham-acupoint group (P>0.05). Compared with pre-intervention, 4-weeks' intervention at the headache-acupoint showed an increase of ReHo values in the anterior cingulate gyrus, anterior central gyrus, superior orbital frontal gyrus, insula, inferior lobule, left anterior cingulate gyrus, ventral lateral nucleus and ventral posteromedial nucleus of the thalamus, pontine nucleus, cerebellar tonsils and orbital frontal inferior gyrus of the brain (P<0.05), and a decrease of ReHo values in the right brain bridge, central posterior gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus, left central anterior gyrus, posterolateral nucleus of thalamus, and hippocampus (P<0.05), separately. In the sham-acupoint group, the ReHo value was increased in the right tongue gyrus, the left anterior lobe, the anterior cingulate gyrus and the lower occipital gyrus of the brain (P<0.05), and reduced in the left ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus, separately (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Balance acupuncture stimulation of headache acupoint has an analgesic effect in migraine patients without aura, which may be related to its effect in regulating resting state brain function of the limbic-system-dominated multiple brain regions.