http://www.nitrc.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=5969 <table border="0" width="100%"><tr><td align="left"/></tr></table> <p><b>Depletion of brain functional connectivity enhancement leads to disability progression in multiple sclerosis: A longitudinal resting-state fMRI study.</b></p> <p>Mult Scler. 2016 Feb 2;</p> <p>Authors: Faivre A, Robinet E, Guye M, Rousseau C, Maarouf A, Le Troter A, Zaaraoui W, Rico A, Crespy L, Soulier E, Confort-Gouny S, Pelletier J, Achard S, Ranjeva JP, Audoin B</p> <p>Abstract<br/> BACKGROUND: The compensatory effect of brain functional connectivity enhancement in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) remains controversial.<br/> OBJECTIVE: To characterize the relationships between brain functional connectivity changes and disability progression in RRMS.<br/> METHODS: Long-range connectivity, short-range connectivity, and density of connections were assessed using graph theoretical analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired in 38 RRMS patients (disease duration: 120 ± 32 months) and 24 controls. All subjects were explored at baseline and all patients and six controls 2 years later.<br/> RESULTS: At baseline, levels of long-range and short-range brain functional connectivity were higher in patients compared to controls. During the follow-up, decrease in connections' density was inversely correlated with disability progression. Post-hoc analysis evidenced differential evolution of brain functional connectivity metrics in patients according to their level of disability at baseline: while patients with lowest disability at baseline experienced an increase in all connectivity metrics during the follow-up, patients with higher disability at baseline showed a decrease in the connectivity metrics. In these patients, decrease in the connectivity metrics was associated with disability progression.<br/> CONCLUSION: The study provides two main findings: (1) brain functional connectivity enhancement decreases during the disease course after reaching a maximal level, and (2) decrease in brain functional connectivity enhancement participates in disability progression.<br/> </p><p>PMID: 26838014 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]</p> en-us Copyright 2000-2026 NITRC OSI Mon, 04 May 2026 20:27:23 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss NITRC RSS generator