Depression is a common psychiatric disorder, and approximately 30% patients with depression do not respond effectively to standard antidepressant medication; this condition is termed treatment resistant depression (TRD) and its neurobiological mechanism remains unclear. Neuroimaging techniques can non-invasively explore changes in brain structure, function and metabolism. These techniques have been applied in neurobiological research of TRD and revealed critical abnormalities in brain structure, function and metabolism in fronto-limbic system. In this paper, we reviewed the latest progress in neuroimaging researches on TRD, providing new insight and imaging evidence for further neurobiological studies of TRD.
Based on the scientific research management experience for many years and the characteristics and advantages of the hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University develops an innovative scientific research management model relying on deepening the top-level design of scientific research management, strengthening the information management means, establishing the assessment and evaluation system of full-time scientific research personnel, and creating the benchmark of scientific research technician training industry. The “West China Model” of innovative scientific research management has achieved remarkable results. The comprehensive strength of scientific research has been strong, the management strength of scientific research has been greatly improved, and the scientific and technological research on the epidemic situation has been accurately deployed. The “West China Model” of innovative scientific research management not only provides a working path for research hospitals, but also lays a theoretical foundation for the exploration and establishment of the “scientific research management-scientific research team-scientific research project” trinity innovative hospital scientific research management system, which plays a positive role in effectively stimulating the vitality of scientific research and improving the core medical technology.
Amblyopia is a visual development deficit caused by abnormal visual experience in early life, mainly manifesting as defected visual acuity and binocular visual impairment, which is considered to reflect abnormal development of the brain rather than organic lesions of the eye. Previous studies have reported abnormal spontaneous brain activity in patients with amblyopia. However, the location of abnormal spontaneous activity in patients with amblyopia and the association between abnormal brain function activity and clinical deficits remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to analyze spontaneous brain functional activity abnormalities in patients with amblyopia and their associations with clinical defects using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. In this study, 31 patients with amblyopia and 31 healthy controls were enrolled for resting-state fMRI scanning. The results showed that spontaneous activity in the right angular gyrus, left posterior cerebellum, and left cingulate gyrus were significantly lower in patients with amblyopia than in controls, and spontaneous activity in the right middle temporal gyrus was significantly higher in patients with amblyopia. In addition, the spontaneous activity of the left cerebellum in patients with amblyopia was negatively associated with the best-corrected visual acuity of the amblyopic eye, and the spontaneous activity of the right middle temporal gyrus was positively associated with the stereoacuity. This study found that adult patients with amblyopia showed abnormal spontaneous activity in the angular gyrus, cerebellum, middle temporal gyrus, and cingulate gyrus. Furthermore, the functional abnormalities in the cerebellum and middle temporal gyrus may be associated with visual acuity defects and stereopsis deficiency in patients with amblyopia. These findings help explain the neural mechanism of amblyopia, thus promoting the improvement of the treatment strategy for amblyopia.
In the current study, we aim to investigate whether post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with structural alterations in specific subfields of hippocampus comparing with trauma-exposed control (TC) in a relatively large sample. We included 67 PTSD patients who were diagnosed under Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Edition) (DSM-Ⅳ) criteria and 78 age- and sex-matched non-PTSD adult survivors who experienced similar stressors. High resolution T1 weighted images were obtained via a GE 3.0 T scanner. The structural data was automatically segmented using FreeSurfer software, and volume of whole hippocampus and subfield including CA1, CA2-3, CA4-DG, fimbria, presubiculum, subiculum and fissure were extracted. Volume differences between the two groups were statistically compared with age, years of education, duration from the events and intracranial volume (ICV) as covariates. Hemisphere, sex and diagnosis were entered as fixed factors. Relationship between morphometric measurements with Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) score and illness duration were performed using Pearson’s correlation with SPSS. Comparing to TC, PTSD patients showed no statistically significant alteration in volumes of the whole hippocampus and all the subfields (P > 0.05). In male patients, there were significant correlations between CAPS score and volume of right CA2-3 ( R2 = 0.197, P = 0.034), right subiculum (R2 = 0.245, P = 0.016), and duration statistically correlated with right fissure (R2 = 0.247, P = 0.016). In female patients, CAPS scores significant correlated with volume of left presubiculum (R2 = 0.095, P = 0.042), left subiculum (R2 = 0.090, P = 0.048), and left CA4-DG (R2 = 0.099, P = 0.037). The main findings of the current study suggest that stress event causes non-selective damage to hippocampus in both PTSD patients and TC, and gender-specific lateralization may underlie PTSD pathology.
Objective To identify the most consistent and replicable characteristics of altered spontaneous brain activity in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS). Methods A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and CQVIP databases, to identify eligible whole-brain resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that had measured differences in amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations or fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations between patients with MTLE-HS and healthy controls from January 2000 to January 2019. After literature screening and data extraction, Anisotropic Effect-Size Signed Differential Mapping software was used for voxel based pooled meta-analysis. Results Nine datasets from six studies were finally included, which contained 207 MTLE-HS patients and 239 healthy controls. The results demonstrated that, compared with the healthy controls, the MTLE-HS patients showed increased spontaneous brain activity in right hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, left cingulate gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, and right inferior temporal gyrus; while decreased spontaneous brain activity in left superior frontal gyrus, right angular gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, left precuneus, and right cerebellum (P<0.005, cluster extent≥10). Conclusion The current meta-analysis demonstrates that patients with MTLE-HS show increased spontaneous brain activity in lateral and mesial temporal regions and decreased spontaneous brain activity in default mode network, which preliminarily clarifies the characteristics of altered spontaneous brain activity in patients with MTLE-HS.
Since January 2020, due to the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019, all universities in China have postponed their studies or even suspend their studies. In response to the teaching policy of “suspending class, but keeping teaching and learning” , college teachers have rapidly changed into online teaching mode. However, how to ensure the quality and effect of online teaching still needs further exploration. Through analyzing the course characteristics of medical imaging diagnostics and students’ learning situations, this study discusses how to design detailed online teaching projects and improve the teaching quality and how to select online software suitable for the course. A questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the effect of online teaching during the spring course in 2020, selecting a total of 297 clinical and other undergraduate students of grade 2017 from West China School of Medicine of Sichuan University. The results showed that the detailed online teaching programs including “video learning” “distance teaching” “periodic examination” “weakness tutorial” were helpful to the learning process agreed by the majority of students. During the epidemic period, online teaching method can help students master the content of medical imaging diagnosis. In the era of Internet, the “online+offline” teaching mode is expected to be popularized in the future.
目的 利用局部一致性（ReHo）方法探测创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）患者在静息状态下是否存在着大脑功能异常。 方法 2010年5月－7月对18例未经治疗的地震PTSD患者和19例同样经历地震但未患PTSD的对照者进行了静息态功能磁共振成像（Rs-fMRI） 扫描。应用ReHo方法处理Rs-fMRI数据，得出PTSD患者的异常脑区，并将患者存在组间差异的脑区ReHo值与临床用PTSD诊断量表（CAPS）、汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD）和汉密尔顿焦虑量表（HAMA）分别进行相关分析。 结果 ① PTSD组ReHo显著增加的脑区包括右侧颞下回、楔前叶、顶下叶、中扣带回，左侧枕中回以及左/右侧后扣带回；ReHo显著降低的脑区包括左侧海马和左/右侧腹侧前扣带回。② 异常脑区中后扣带回和右侧中扣带回ReHo与HAMD呈负相关（中扣带回r=?0.575，P=0.012；右侧后扣带回：r=?0.507，P=0.032），其余脑区ReHo与临床指标无明显相关性（P＞0.05），左侧海马与CAPS的相关性相对其他脑区较大（r=?0.430，P=0.075）。 结论 PTSD患者在静息状态下即存在着局部脑功能活动的降低和增加，ReHo方法可能有助于研究PTSD患者静息状态脑活动。
目的 利用磁共振弥散张量成像技术（DTI）对右侧难治性颞叶癫痫（TLE）患者术前及术后脑白质各向异性分数（FA）进行纵向随访研究，并对其与病程等临床症状之间的相关性进行分析，探讨右侧TLE患者的脑白质FA变化模式。 方法 2008年7月－2009年8月纳入10例右侧难治性TLE患者。对每个受试者采用GE 3.0 T磁共振及8通道头线圈扫描，所有DTI图像通过单次回波平面成像序列采集。采用基于体素分析的SPM8软件对受试患者术前术后FA图进行配对t检验，观察难治性TLE患者脑白质变化模式。采用Pearson相关计算FA变化幅度与病程等临床症状之间的相关性，经比较校正后P值＜0.05的区域为有统计学意义的区域。 结果 右侧TLE患者FA值降低的区域包括左侧颞下回、双侧额中回及左侧壳核、右侧楔叶。FA升高的区域包括左侧海马旁回、左侧颞叶、右侧额下回和左侧中央旁小叶。相关分析发现，右侧TLE患者右侧额下回FA变化值与发病年龄呈负相关，左侧颞下回FA变化值与术后随访间隔时间呈负相关。 结论 右侧难治性TLE患者手术治疗后大脑白质变化不仅局限于颞叶，还涉及颞叶外结构。
Health poverty alleviation is an important practice in implementing the basic strategy of precision poverty alleviation. It is also an important measure to win the battle against poverty in rural areas. Through the investigation of local medical and health conditions, West China Hospital of Sichuan University built a demand-oriented framework for medical poverty alleviation in Ganzi Prefecture, and gradually carried out precision top-level design, discipline construction, technical training, talent training, endemic disease prevention and control; through establishinga regional medical cooperation network, built featured specialies, built the backbone of medical and health forces, achieved the prevention of endemic diseases throughout life cycle, and improved the overall medical and health service capacity of Ganzi Prefecture. This article introduces the exploration and practice of the demand-oriented model in Ganzi Prefecture by West China Hospital of Sichuan University, aiming at providing a guide for the precision health poverty alleviation in China.