Altered cerebral gray matter volume and functional connectivity in patients with residual dizziness of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Aim

To provide a theoretical basis for the study of the pathogenesis of residual dizziness (RD) from the perspective of imaging.

Materials and Methods

The general clinical data of the RD group and healthy control (HC) group were statistically analysed by two independent sample t tests, rank sum tests or chi-square tests. The imaging data of the two groups of people were preprocessed and statistically analysed by using the data processing and analysis for brain imaging (DPABI) software package.

Results

Compared with the HC group, the grey matter volume (GMV) in the left medial superior frontal gyrus, the left superior temporal gyrus, the right cerebellum crus1 area, and the right calcarine were significantly reduced in the RD group; the functional connectivity (FC) between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the post insula in the RD group was enhanced; The FC between the vmPFC and the occipital lobe, between the temporal lobe and the inferior parietal lobe, between the mid insula and the mid insula, between the post cingulate gyrus and the post cingulate gyrus was weakened.

Conclusion

1. The GMV of many brain areas processing vestibular information of RD patients is reduced, the FC between them is weakened, which may be an important cause of RD. 2. The FC between many brain areas dealing with emotional information in RD patients is abnormal, which may be the adaptive response of them caused by emotional factors.