A shift of brain network hub after spinal cord injury

Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 2023 · DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1245902 · Published: October 17, 2023

Spinal Cord Injury Neurology Medical Imaging

Simple Explanation

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to changes in the brain, even though the brain isn't directly damaged. These changes can affect how well someone recovers and responds to treatment. Researchers used a special type of brain scan (rsfMRI) to see how different parts of the brain connect and work together after a spinal cord injury in mice. The study found that after a spinal cord injury, the main areas of the brain responsible for movement shift from the motor cortex to other areas, like the external capsule and putamen, which are part of a different motor system.

Study Duration

14 weeks

Participants

10 mice of the contusional SCI model

Evidence Level

Not specified

Key Findings

1
Before spinal cord injury, the primary and secondary motor cortex showed high degree centralities, indicating their role as main hubs for motor function.
2
After SCI, the hub function of the motor cortices decreased by 14 weeks.
3
After SCI, hub function in the external capsule and the putamen comparatively increased with time after injury, suggesting that the extrapyramidal/subcortical system becomes dominant.

Research Summary

This study investigated the shift of brain network hubs after spinal cord injury (SCI) in mice using resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) and graph theory analysis. The study found that after SCI, the hub function shifted from the motor cortices to the external capsule and putamen. These results provide basic information for understanding brain network changes after SCI and may be useful for treatment selection and evaluation of its efficacy in SCI patients.

Practical Implications

Understanding Brain Network Changes

The findings provide insights into how the brain reorganizes itself after SCI, which could lead to better understanding of the condition.

Treatment Selection

The results could help in selecting appropriate treatments for SCI patients based on their brain network changes.

Evaluating Treatment Efficacy

The study suggests that brain network analysis could be used to assess how effective different treatments are for SCI.

Study Limitations

1
The study mainly uses the same incomplete injured thoracic spinal cord model and does not represent the causal relationship between pathophysiology and brain networks.
2
The data were converted into binary data for network analysis, but there is no clear standard for setting the threshold value, unlike other studies.
3
The intervals of the time series are different, so it is not possible to examine the amount of change and the time series in detail.

Your Feedback

Was this summary helpful?

Back to Spinal Cord Injury