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Published on: December 6, 2016
Mapping gray matter reductions in obstructive sleep apnea: an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
Hsu-Huei Weng1, Yuan-Hsiung Tsai2, Chih-Feng Chen2
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taiwan ; Department of Respiratory Care, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Chiayi, Taiwan ; Department of Psychology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) show reduced gray matter in the bilateral parahippocampus and other brain regions. These structural deficits may explain neurocognitive issues common in OSA patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neurology
- Radiology
Background:
- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is linked to cognitive impairments.
- Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a neuroimaging technique used to study brain structure.
- Previous studies using VBM in OSA patients have yielded varied results.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a meta-analysis of VBM studies in OSA.
- To identify consistent structural brain deficits in OSA patients compared to controls.
- To correlate structural changes with neurocognitive abnormalities in OSA.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of VBM studies in PubMed (2000-2012).
- Inclusion of studies comparing OSA patients with healthy controls.
- Meta-analysis using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) on gray matter volume/concentration data.
- Extraction of stereotactic data from 8 studies (213 OSA patients, 195 controls).
Main Results:
- Significant gray matter reduction in the bilateral parahippocampus of OSA patients.
- Less convincing evidence for gray matter reduction in the right superior frontal and left middle temporal gyri.
- ALE analysis confirmed these regional differences.
Conclusions:
- Patients with OSA exhibit significant gray matter reductions in the bilateral parahippocampus.
- Frontotemporal regions also showed less convincing gray matter reductions.
- These structural deficits may underlie the neurocognitive processing abnormalities observed in OSA.
