Abstract

Info

Title:: Advances in the research of spinal cord injury using voxel-based morphometry

Author(s):: BAO Shusheng1; ZHAO Can2; 3; BAO Xingxing1; RAO Jiasheng1; 4; 1.Beijing Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Neural Regeneration, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China 2. Institute of Rehabilitation Engineering, China Rehabilitation Science Institute, Beijing 100068, China 3. School of Rehabilitation, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100068, China 4. Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China

Keywords:: spinal cord injury brain structure voxel-based morphometry review

Abstract:: Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) usually induces secondary damages to the cerebral cortex, leading to neuronal apoptosis and atrophy. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) has been widely applied in research of cerebral microstructural alterations in SCI patients for its non-invasion and accuracy. Herein the advances in the research of SCI using VBM are reviewed from 3 main aspects: (1) the cross-sectional study on post-injury cortical atrophy and its correlation with clinical manifestations of patients, (2) the longitudinal study on the spatiotemporal pattern of progressive neurodegeneration in the early stage after injury and its ability to predict the clinical outcomes, (3) the effects of disease duration (sub-acute, chronic, etc.), injury severity (complete, incomplete, etc.) and clinical rehabilitation (sensory motor function, neuropathic pain, etc.) on research results. The reliability of VBM technology and the design of research scheme should be further improved in future researches for promoting the role of VBM in brain function exploration and SCI rehabilitation treatment.