Motor network plasticity and low-frequency oscillations abnormalities in patients with brain gliomas: a functional MRI study

PLoS One. 2014 May 7;9(5):e96850. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096850. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Brain plasticity is often associated with the process of slow-growing tumor formation, which remodels neural organization and optimizes brain network function. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether motor function plasticity would display deficits in patients with slow-growing brain tumors located in or near motor areas, but who were without motor neurological deficits. We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to probe motor networks in 15 patients with histopathologically confirmed brain gliomas and 15 age-matched healthy controls. All subjects performed a motor task to help identify individual motor activity in the bilateral primary motor cortex (PMC) and supplementary motor area (SMA). Frequency-based analysis at three different frequencies was then used to investigate possible alterations in the power spectral density (PSD) of low-frequency oscillations. For each group, the average PSD was determined for each brain region and a nonparametric test was performed to determine the difference in power between the two groups. Significantly reduced inter-hemispheric functional connectivity between the left and right PMC was observed in patients compared with controls (P<0.05). We also found significantly decreased PSD in patients compared to that in controls, in all three frequency bands (low: 0.01-0.02 Hz; middle: 0.02-0.06 Hz; and high: 0.06-0.1 Hz), at three key motor regions. These findings suggest that in asymptomatic patients with brain tumors located in eloquent regions, inter-hemispheric connection may be more vulnerable. A comparison of the two approaches indicated that power spectral analysis is more sensitive than functional connectivity analysis for identifying the neurological abnormalities underlying motor function plasticity induced by slow-growing tumors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain Mapping
  • Brain Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Brain Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality
  • Glioma / diagnostic imaging*
  • Glioma / pathology
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Motor Cortex / diagnostic imaging
  • Motor Cortex / pathology
  • Neural Pathways / diagnostic imaging*
  • Neural Pathways / pathology
  • Neuroimaging
  • Radiography

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Projects No. 81171318 and No. 31271061), the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (20120201120071), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.