Amplitude of low frequency fluctuation in primary open angle glaucoma: a resting state fMRI study

Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is a kind of progressive neuropathy with no clear cause. In the present fMRI study, a data-driven approach was employed to map the alteration of regional spontaneous activity in POAG patients by measuring the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal. Twenty one POAG patients and 22 age and gender matched healthy subjects participated in this study. We found that the abnormal ALFF values in the POAG patients compared with healthy controls were not only detected in the visual regions but also across the whole brain. We also found the correlations between ALFF values and the POAG stages for POAG patients. We concluded that the abnormality of spontaneous brain activity in patients with POAG existed in visual cortex as well as in distal brain regions associated with sensation, motion, emotion and psychology. And the abnormal spontaneous neural activity in different brain regions could be better detected by specific frequency bands. These findings might contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of POAG.