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Hemodynamic responses to visual stimulation in children with sickle cell anemia

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Abstract

Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) and cerebral blood flow (CBF)-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were used to measure primary visual cortex responses to photic stimulation in 23 children (12.4 ± 0.7 years old) with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and 21 clinical controls (11 ± 1.0 years old). The objectives were to investigate the effect of SCA on detection of brain activation with fMRI and to explore the relationship between fMRI responses and global cognitive function. The BOLD responses were diminished in children with SCA. Clinical indicators of disease severity were greatest in patients without detectable visual cortex activation, but blood hemoglobin concentration and resting CBF were not predictive of BOLD signal amplitude in the SCA patients. Unexpectedly, the BOLD signal amplitude was positively associated (rs ≥ 0.8, p ≤ 0.05) with Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence scores, suggesting that fMRI may help clarify medical, hemodynamic, and neural factors that mediate adverse effects of SCA on neurocognitive function.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (U54HL70590 (NHLBI), P30CA21765 (NCI), R01HD049888 (NICHD)) and by the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC). We thank the anonymous reviewers for their many valuable insights and suggestions to improve the significance and quality of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiological Sciences, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, MS 220, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA

    Ping Zou, Kathleen J. Helton & Robert J. Ogg

  2. Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Matthew Smeltzer

  3. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Chin-Shang Li

  4. Departments of Psychology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Heather M. Conklin

  5. Departments of Oncology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Amar Gajjar

  6. Departments of Hematology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Winfred C. Wang & Russell E. Ware

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  1. Ping Zou
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  2. Kathleen J. Helton
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Correspondence to Robert J. Ogg.

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Zou, P., Helton, K.J., Smeltzer, M. et al. Hemodynamic responses to visual stimulation in children with sickle cell anemia. Brain Imaging and Behavior 5, 295–306 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-011-9133-4

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