Cerebral palsy (CP) has long been investigated to be associated with a range of motor and cognitive dysfunction. As the two most common CP subtypes, spastic cerebral palsy (SCP) and dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) may share common and distinct elements in their pathophysiology. However, the common and distinct dysfunctional characteristics between SCP and DCP on the brain network level are less known. This study aims to detect the alteration of brain functional connectivity in children with SCP and DCP based on resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). Resting-state networks (RSNs) were established based on the independent component analysis (ICA), and the functional network connectivity (FNC) was performed on the fMRI data from 16 DCP, 18 bilateral SCP, and 18 healthy children. Compared with healthy controls, altered functional connectivity within the cerebellum network, sensorimotor network (SMN), left frontoparietal network (LFPN), and salience network (SN) were found in DCP and SCP groups. Furthermore, the disconnections of the FNC consistently focused on the visual pathway; covariance of the default mode network (DMN) with other networks was observed both in DCP and SCP groups, while the DCP group had a distinct connectivity abnormality in motor pathway and self-referential processing-related connections. Correlations between the functional disconnection and the motor-related clinical measurement in children with CP were also found. These findings indicate functional connectivity impairment and altered integration widely exist in children with CP, suggesting that the abnormal functional connectivity is a pathophysiological mechanism of motor and cognitive dysfunction of CP.

Dance and music are expressive art forms. Previous behavioural studies have reported that dancers/musicians show a better sensorimotor ability and emotional representation of others. However, the neural mechanism behind this phenomenon is not completely understood. Recently, intensive researches have identified that the insula is highly enrolled in the empathic process. Thus, to expand the knowledge of insular function associated with empathy under the dance/music training background, we mapped the insular network and its associated brain regions in 21 dancers, 20 musicians, and 24 healthy controls using resting-state functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Whole brain voxel-based analysis was performed using seeds from the posterior insula (PI), the ventral anterior insula (vAI), and the dorsal anterior insula (dAI). The training effects of dance and music on insular subnetworks were then evaluated using one-way analysis of variance ANOVA. Increased insular FC with those seeds was found in dancers/musicians, including PI and anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), vAI and middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and middle cingulated cortex (MCC), and dAI and ACC and MTG. In addition, significant associations were found between discrepant insular FC patterns and empathy scores in dancers and musicians. These results indicated that dance/music training might enhance insular subnetwork function, which would facilitate integration of intero/exteroceptive information and result in better affective sensitivity. Those changes might finally facilitate the subjects’ empathic ability.

Schizophrenia is often associated with behavior abnormality in the cognitive and affective domain. Music intervention is used as a complementary treatment for improving symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. However, the neurophysiological correlates of these remissions remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of music intervention in neural circuits through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in schizophrenic subjects. Under the standard care, patients were randomly assigned to music and non-music interventions (MTSZ, UMTSZ) for 1 month. Resting-state fMRI were acquired over three time points (baseline, 1 month, and 6 months later) in patients and analyzed using functional connectivity strength (FCS) and seed-based functional connection (FC) approaches. At baseline, compared with healthy controls, decreased FCS in the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG) was observed in patients. However, after music intervention, the functional circuitry of the right MTG, which was related with the function of emotion and sensorimotor, was improved in MTSZ. Furthermore, the FC increments were significantly correlated with the improvement of symptoms, while vanishing 6 months later. Together, these findings provided evidence that music intervention might positively modulate the functional connectivity of MTG in patients with schizophrenia; such changes might be associated with the observed therapeutic effects of music intervention on neurocognitive function. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-OPC-14005339.

With action video games (AVGs) becoming increasingly popular worldwide, the cognitive benefits of AVG experience have attracted continuous research attention over the past two decades. Research has repeatedly shown that AVG experience can causally enhance cognitive ability and is related to neural plasticity in gray matter and functional networks in the brain. However, the relation between AVG experience and the plasticity of white matter (WM) network still remains unclear. WM network modulates the distribution of action potentials, coordinating the communication between brain regions and acting as the framework of neural networks. And various types of cognitive deficits are usually accompanied by impairments of WM networks. Thus, understanding this relation is essential in assessing the influence of AVG experience on neural plasticity and using AVG experience as an interventional tool for impairments of WM networks. Using graph theory, this study analyzed WM networks in AVG experts and amateurs. Results showed that AVG experience is related to altered WM networks in prefrontal networks, limbic system, and sensorimotor networks, which are related to cognitive control and sensorimotor functions. These results shed new light on the influence of AVG experience on the plasticity of WM networks and suggested the clinical applicability of AVG experience.

Albeit the few resting-state fMRI neuroimaging studies in frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) patients, these studies focused on functional connectivity. The aim of this current study was to examine the effective connectivity based on voxel-based morphometry in FLE patients. Resting-state structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 19 FLE patients and 19 age and gender-matched healthy controls using the 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (3.0 T MRI). The investigations were done by acquiring the structural information through voxel-based morphometry, then based on the seed obtained, Granger causality analysis was used to evaluate the causal flow of the designated seed to and from other significant voxels. Our results showed altered structural and effective connectivity. Compared with healthy controls, FLE patients showed reduced grey matter volume in bilateral putamen and right caudate as well as altered causality with increased, and decreased causal outflow from the right caudate (seed region) to inferior frontal gyrus-triangular, from bilateral putamen (seed regions) to right middle frontal gyrus and frontal gyrus medial-orbital representing the frontal executive areas, respectively. Also, significantly increased and decreased inflow from left calcarine to right caudate and from cerebellum_6 and vermis_6 to bilateral putamen, respectively. Moreover, we found that the causal alterations to and from the seed regions (from vermis_6 to right putamen and from left putamen to right middle frontal gyrus) negatively correlated with clinical scores (duration of epilepsy). The findings point to the impairment within the executive and motor-controlled system including the cerebellum, frontal, caudate and putamen regions in FLE patients. These results would therefore enhance our understanding of structural and effective mechanisms in FLE.