Changes in brain morphology in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Sleep Medicine
• Neurology

Background:

• Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a prevalent condition causing daytime sleepiness and cognitive impairment.
• Previous studies on OSA-related brain morphology changes have yielded conflicting results.
• This study aimed to clarify OSA's impact on brain structure using advanced analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is associated with significant changes in brain morphology.
• To resolve conflicting conclusions from prior research on OSA and brain structure.
• To utilize improved voxel-based morphometry for unbiased detection of local brain structure changes in OSA patients.

Main Methods:

• Studied 60 patients with OSA and 60 non-apnoeic controls.
• Utilized T1-weighted 3-D structural MRI scans (1.5 T and 3 T).
• Employed voxel-based morphometry, controlling for age, sex, site, and intracranial volume, with dedicated cerebellar analysis.

Main Results:

• Patients with OSA exhibited reduced grey matter volume in the right middle temporal gyrus compared to controls (p<0.05, corrected).
• A significant reduction in grey matter was also observed in the cerebellum, specifically in lobe VIIIb and XI.
• These findings were corrected for multiple comparisons across the entire brain.

Conclusions:

• Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is associated with focal grey matter loss, potentially contributing to cognitive decline.
• Cerebellar lesions in OSA patients may lead to motor dysfunction and working memory deficits.
• These neurological changes could negatively impact daily activities such as driving.