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Objective: To explore the functions of amygdala functional connectivity in the pathogenesis of refractory epilepsy with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI)., Methods: A total of 19 patients with refractory epilepsy were recruited from August 2013 to June 2014. And 19 healthy persons were selected as the controls.No obvious epileptogenic lesions of intracranial structures were found on multi-modal neuroimaging.Ictal and interictal epileptic activities on long-term video electroencephalogram (EEG) showed spine spread spike and wave in bilateral cerebral hemispheres. All fMRI data were preprocessed after RS-fMRI scanning. Then left and right amygdalas were selected as regions of interest (ROIs) for calculating the linear correlation between amygdala and whole brain. As relative to the control group, the changes of brain areas in functional connectivity were examined for the intractable epilepsy group., Results: Compared with the controls, left amygdala in refractory epilepsy group showed increased functional connectivity with bilateral fusiform gyrus, bilateral calcarine gyrus and right lingual, on the contrary decreased functional connectivity with bilateral cuneus, bilateral precuneus, bilateral caudatas and left thalamus.However, right amygdala demonstrated increased functional connectivity with bilateral calcarine gyrus and bilateral linguals, but decreased functional connectivity with bilateral caudatas and left putamen (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Altered functional connectivity of amygdala reflects its dysfunction in refractory epilepsy patients. It suggested that amygdala is an important component of "epileptic network" participating in the occurrence and development of refractory epilepsy.

Objective: To explore the functions of temporal parietal junction (TPJ) as parts of attention networks in the pathogenesis of online game addiction using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)., Methods: A total of 17 online game addicts (OGA) were recruited as OGA group and 17 healthy controls during the same period were recruited as CON group. The neuropsychological tests were performed for all of them to compare the inter-group differences in the results of Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and attention functions. All fMRI data were preprocessed after resting-state fMRI scanning. Then left and right TPJ were selected as regions of interest (ROIs) to calculate the linear correlation between TPJ and entire brain to compare the inter-group differences., Results: Obvious differences existed between OGA group (71 ± 5 scores) and CON group (19 ± 7 scores) in the IAT results and attention function (P < 0.05). Compared with the controls, right TPJ in online game addicts showed decreased functional connectivity with bilateral ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), bilateral hippocampal gyrus and bilateral amygdaloid nucleus, but increased functional connectivity with right cuneus.However, left TPJ demonstrated decreased functional connectivity with bilateral superior frontal gyrus and bilateral middle frontal gyrus, but increased functional connectivity with bilateral cuneus (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Altered functional connectivity of TPJ reflected its dysfunction in online game addicts.It suggests that TPJ is an important component of attention networks participating in the generation of online game addiction.

Purpose: Previous researches have reported gray and white matter microalterations in primary trigeminal neuralgia (TN) with neurovascular compression (NVC). The central mechanism underlying TN without NVC are unknown but may include changes in specific brain regions or circuitries. This study aimed to investigate abnormalities in the gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) of the whole brain and the possible pathogenetic mechanism underlying this disease. Methods: We analyzed brain morphologic images of TN patients, 23 with NVC (TN wNVC) and 22 without NVC (TN wNVC) compared with 45 healthy controls (HC). All subjects underwent 3T-magnetic resonance imaging and pain scale evaluation. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and surface-based morphometry (SBM) were used to investigate whole brain grey matter quantitatively; graph theory was applied to obtain network measures based on extracted DTI data based on DTI data of the whole brains. Sensory and affective pain rating indices were assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) and short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ). Results: The VBM and SBM analyses revealed widespread decreases in GM volume and cortical thickness in TN wNVC compared to TN woNVC, and diffusion metrics measures and topology organization changes revealed DTI showed extensive WM integrity alterations. However, above structural changes differed between TN wNVC and TN woNVC, and were related to specific chronic pain modulation mechanism. Conclusion: Abnormalities in characteristic regions of GM and WM structural network were found in TN woNVC compared with TN wNVC group, suggesting differences in pathophysiology of two types of TN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]