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Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Dynamic Visual Tests to Identify and Quantify Visual Damage and Repair Following Demyelination in Optic Neuritis Patients
Published on: April 14, 2014
Multimodal characterization of gray matter alterations in neuromyelitis optica
Yaou Liu1, Xueyan Jiang2, Helmut Butzkueven3
1Department of Neurology and Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, P.R. China/Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, P.R. China/Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Objective:
To investigate structural and functional alterations of gray matter (GM) and examine their clinical relevance in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques.
Methods:
A total of 35 NMO and 36 healthy controls (HC) were recruited in this study. Cortical lesions were investigated by double inversion recovery technique. Five voxel-wise MRI measurements were obtained for each participant in the GM including gray matter volume (GMV), fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), and weighted functional connectivity strength (wFCS). Between-group differences, cross-modality relationships, and MRI-clinical correlations were examined.
Results:
No cortical lesions were found in NMO. Compared to HC, NMO patients exhibited significantly decreased GMV in deep GM and cortical regions involving visual function and cognition. Diffusion GM abnormalities were widespread in the patients. Decreased ALFF and wFCS were observed in the patients in sensorimotor, visual, cognition, and cerebellar sites. GM structural alterations were correlated with cognitive but not physical disability scores of the patients.
Conclusion:
Despite the lack of focal cortical lesions, patients with NMO exhibit both structural and functional alterations of GM in cerebrum and cerebellum that predominantly involve deep GM, visual, motor, and cognitive regions. GM alterations are associated with cognitive impairment but not physical disability.
