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Distinct patterns of spontaneous brain activity between children and adults with anisometropic amblyopia: a resting-state fMRI study

  • Neurophthalmology
  • Published:
Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To detect the altered spontaneous brain activity patterns in children and adults with anisometropic amblyopia using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) technique combined with the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) method.

Methods

Thirty-two monocular anisometropic amblyopia and 34 normal-sight controls were divided into child group and adult group. Rs-fMRI was performed in all participants and analysis of ALFF value within the whole brain was conducted in each subject. ALFF value differences between the patients and controls in the two groups were compared via an independent two-sample t test.

Results

The amblyopic children mainly exhibited increased ALFF in part of the bilateral calcarine (BA17), the left middle occipital gyrus (BA18/19), and the left postcentral gyrus (BA2). By contrast, the amblyopic adults showed decreased ALFF in the bilateral precuneus cortex (part of BA7), and the standardized ALFF value of bilateral precuneus were correlated with the amount of anisometropia of the amblyopic adults.

Conclusions

Rs-fMRI is an effective noninvasive technique for exploring brain activity of the anisometropic amblyopia. Our findings demonstrated that brain activity changed both in amblyopic children and adults under the resting state, and revealed the differences in spontaneous activity patterns between the amblyopic children and adults.

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Abbreviations

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

rs-fMRI:

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging

BOLD:

Blood oxygenation level dependent

ALFF:

Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation

ReHo:

Regional homogeneity

BA:

Brodmann area

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Conflict of interest

We certify that all authors have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China

    Minglong Liang, Bing Xie, Longhua Yu, Xuntao Yin, Luqing Wei & Jian Wang

  2. Department of Radiology, 401st Hospital of PLA, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China

    Longhua Yu

  3. Ophthalmology Research Center, Southwest Eye Hospital/Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China

    Hong Yang

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  1. Minglong Liang
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  2. Bing Xie
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Correspondence to Jian Wang.

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Minglong Liang and Bing Xie are Co-first Author

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Liang, M., Xie, B., Yang, H. et al. Distinct patterns of spontaneous brain activity between children and adults with anisometropic amblyopia: a resting-state fMRI study. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 254, 569–576 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-015-3117-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-015-3117-9

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