This study compared the difference in brain structure in 12 mine disaster survivors with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, 7 cases of improved post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and 14 controls who experienced the same mine disaster but did not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, us-ing the voxel-based morphometry method. The correlation between differences in brain structure and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms was also investigated. Results showed that the gray matter volume was the highest in the trauma control group, fol owed by the symptoms-improved group, and the lowest in the chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group. Compared with the symptoms-improved group, the gray matter volume in the lingual gyrus of the right occipital lobe was reduced in the chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group. Compared with the trauma control group, the gray matter volume in the right middle occipital gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus was reduced in the symptoms-improved group. Compared with the trauma control group, the gray matter volume in the left superior parietal lobule and right superior frontal gyrus was reduced in the chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group. The gray matter volume in the left superior parietal lobule was significantly positively correlated with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory subscale score in the symptoms-improved group and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group (r = 0.477, P = 0.039). Our findings indicate that (1) chronic post-traumatic stress disorder patients have gray matter structural damage in the prefrontal lobe, occip-ital lobe, and parietal lobe, (2) after post-traumatic stress, the disorder symptoms are improved and gray matter structural damage is reduced, but cannot recover to the trauma-control level, and (3) the superior parietal lobule is possibly associated with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder patients exhibit gray matter abnormalities.

In multiple sclerosis, gray matter atrophy is extensive, and cognitive deficits and mood disorders are frequently encountered. It has been conjectured that focal atrophy is associated with emotional de-cline. However, conventional MRI has revealed that the pathological characteristics cannot ful y account for the mood disorders. Moreover, there is no correlation between cognitive disorders and MRI results in clinical y isolated syndromes or in cases of definite multiple sclerosis. In this case-control study, voxel-based morphometric analysis was performed on 11 subjects with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, and the results show that these patients exhibit gray matter atrophy. Moreover, the gray matter atrophy in the superior and middle gyri of the right frontal lobe in patients with multiple sclerosis was correlated with scores from the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. The scores obtained with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status were associated with gray matter atrophy in the middle gyrus of the left frontal lobe, the superior and middle gyrus of the right frontal lobe, the middle gyrus of the left cingulate, the superior and middle gyri of the left frontal lobe, and the triangular area of the left frontal lobe. However, there was no statistical significance. These findings suggest that the cingulate and frontal cortices of the nant hemisphere are the most severely atrophic regions of the brain, and this atrophy is correlated with cognitive decline and emotional abnormalities.

A reduction in gray matter volume is common in patients with chronic back pain, and different types of pain are associated with gray matter abnormalities in distinct brain regions. To examine ences in brain morphology in patients with low back pain or neck and upper back pain, we gated changes in gray matter volume in chronic back pain patients having different sites of pain using voxel-based morphometry. A reduction in cortical gray matter volume was found primarily in the left postcentral gyrus and in the left precuneus and bilateral cuneal cortex of patients with low back pain. In these patients, there was an increase in subcortical gray matter volume in the bilateral putamen and accumbens, right pal idum, right caudate nucleus, and left amygdala. In upper back pain patients, reduced cortical gray matter volume was found in the left precentral and left tral cortices. Our findings suggest that regional gray matter volume abnormalities in low back pain patients are more extensive than in upper back pain patients. Subcortical gray matter volume in-creases are found only in patients with low back pain.

利用MRI的影像统计分析法诊断Alzheimer病

以前,在诊断Alzheimer病过程中,MRI的作用仅限于排除脑肿瘤等可以治疗的疾病.近,随着影像统计分析方法的发展,人们逐渐认识到MRI不但可以用于Alzheimer病的早期诊断,而且还可能成为一种监测疾病进程及治疗效果的有效手段.利用MRI技术以测定容积为目标的影像学统计分析法已被广泛应用.该方法指的是能够评价灰白质浓度的容量成分依赖性形态测定法(voxel-based morphometry,VBM).此外,把萎缩率影像化的张量依赖性形态测定法(tensor-based morphometry,TBM)也日益受到关注.