Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2021, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (12): 2528-2533.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.313055

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Structural remodeling in related brain regions in patients with facial synkinesis

Jia-Jia Wu1, Ye-Chen Lu2, Mou-Xiong Zheng1, 3, Xu-Yun Hua1, 3, Chun-Lei Shan1, 4, Wei Ding5, *, Jian-Guang Xu1, 4, *   

  1. 1Center of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China; 2Wound Healing Center, Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; 3Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China; 4School of Rehabilitation Science, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China; 5Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • Online:2021-12-15 Published:2021-05-17
  • Contact: Jian-Guang Xu, MD, PhD, xjg@shutcm.edu.cn; Wei Ding, MD, PhD, drdingwei@outlook.com.
  • Supported by:
    This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, Nos. 2018YFC2001600 (to JGX), 2018YFC2001604 (to CLS); Shanghai Jiao Tong University Multidisciplinary Research Fund of Medicine and Engineering, China, No. YG 2016QN13 (to WD); Intelligent Medical Program of Shanghai Health Commission, China, No. 2018ZHYL0216 (to CLS); Clinical Science and Technology Innovation Project of Shanghai Shen Kang Hospital Development Center, China, No. SHDC12018126 (to JGX and CLS); and Shanghai Health Commission Accelerated the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine Three-Year Action Plan Project, China, No. ZY(2018-2020)-CCCX-2001-06 (to CLS).

PDF

175

Abstract: Facial synkinesis is a troublesome sequelae of facial nerve malfunction. It is difficult to recover from synkinesis, despite improved surgical techniques for isolating the peripheral facial nerve branches. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether long-term dysfunction of motor control can lead to irreversible plasticity-induced structural brain changes. This case-control study thus investigated the structural brain alterations associated with facial synkinesis. The study was conducted at Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China. Twenty patients with facial synkinesis (2 male and 18 female, aged 33.35 ± 6.97 years) and 19 healthy volunteers (2 male and 17 female, aged 33.21 ± 6.75 years) underwent magnetic resonance imaging, and voxel-based and surface-based morphometry techniques were used to analyze data. There was no significant difference in brain volume between patients with facial synkinesis and healthy volunteers. Patients with facial synkinesis exhibited a significantly reduced cortical thickness in the contralateral superior and inferior temporal gyri and a reduced sulcal depth of the ipsilateral precuneus compared with healthy volunteers. In addition, sulcal depth of the ipsilateral precuneus was negatively correlated with the severity of depression. These findings suggest that there is a structural remodeling of gray matter in patients with facial synkinesis after facial nerve malfunction. This study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of the Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China (approval No. 2017-365-T267) on September 13, 2017, and was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR1800014630) on January 25, 2018.

Key words: brain plasticity, cortical thickness, depression, facial nerve paralysis, facial synkinesis, peripheral nerve injury, sulcal depth, structural remodeling, surface-based morphometry, voxel-based morphometry

CLC Number: