Objective. Facial synkinesis is a severe sequelae of facial nerve malfunction. Once the synkinesis is established, it is extremely difficult for patients to recover. Given that the restoration of motor or sensory function after peripheral nerve injury was closely related with cortical plasticity, we investigated cortical plasticity in facial synkinesis patients by the frequency-specific data which remains largely uncharacterized. Materials and Methods. Resting-state fMRI was conducted in 20 facial synkinesis patients and 19 healthy controls, and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in five different frequency bands (slow-6: 0-0.01Hz; slow-5: 0.01-0.027Hz; slow-4: 0.027-0.073Hz; slow-3: 0.073-0.167Hz; and slow-2: 0.167-0.25Hz) was calculated, respectively. And the relationship between ALFF and clinical outcomes was also analyzed. Results. Comparing with the healthy controls, facial synkinesis patients showed significantly different ALFF values, mainly in the sensorimotor areas. Furthermore, increased ALFF of the ipsilateral insula in the slow-6 band was significantly related with better facial nerve function. Conclusion. Increased ALFF values in the ipsilateral insula might reflect an abnormal state of hypercompensation in motor control of facial synkinesis patients. It provided valuable spatial information about the functionally aberrant regions, which implied the possible involvement of motor control system in facial synkinesis.
[1]Shanghai Univ Tradit Chinese Med, Yueyang Hosp Integrated Tradit Chinese & Western, Ctr Rehabil Med, Shanghai, Peoples R China.
[2]Shanghai Univ Tradit Chinese Med, Sch Rehabil Sci, Shanghai, Peoples R China.
[3]Shanghai Univ Tradit Chinese Med, Yueyang Hosp Integrated Tradit Chinese & Western, Dept Trauma & Orthoped, Shanghai, Peoples R China.
[4]Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Sch Med, Shanghai People Hosp 9, Dept Plast & Reconstruct Surg, Shanghai, Peoples R China.
(8.0+极速模式)