Regional activity and functional connectivity in brain networks associated with urinary bladder filling in patients with tethered cord syndrome.

PURPOSE: Abnormal neural activities can be revealed by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging using analyses of regional activity and functional connectivity of brain networks. This study was designed to demonstrate functional network alterations in patients with detrusor overactivity.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

In this study, we recruited 36 patients with tethered cord syndrome who had detrusor overactivity and 34 normal controls. We used regional homogeneity and seed-based functional connectivity computational methods to reveal resting-state brain activity features associated with patients.

RESULTS

Compared with normal controls, patients with tethered cord syndrome showed regional abnormalities, mainly in the bilateral frontal cortex, anterior and midcingulate cortex, and temporal lobes. When these regions were defined as seeds, we demonstrated widespread modification in brain networks. The brain-bladder network was not positively connected with the cognitive control network. Both altered regional activity and changed functional connectivity were found in the brain-bladder network.

CONCLUSION

Patients with NDO, activated areas in the frontal lobe and anterior cingulate gyrus decreased significantly and have fewer brain activation areas in the caudate nucleus and hypothalamus (limbic system). In functional connectivity work, we found a small positive correlation in different regions of frontal lobe. This study helped us better to understand the characteristics of neural network modifications in patients with tethered cord syndrome.