Altered white matter integrity in patients with monocular blindness: A diffusion tensor imaging and tract-based...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Visual deprivation induces brain plasticity and changes in the visual system.
• While gray matter changes are studied, white matter alterations in visual impairment are less understood.
• Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) can reveal subtle white matter changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate white matter structural abnormalities in monocular blindness (MB) using DTI and TBSS.
• To compare white matter integrity between healthy controls (HC) and MB patients.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 16 HC and 16 MB patients (right-eye blindness).
• Acquired MRI and DTI data for voxel-based whole-brain comparisons of FA and RD using TBSS.
• Analyzed altered brain regions with ROC curves and correlated white matter values with psychological and visual function scores.

Main Results:

• MB patients showed decreased whole-brain mean FA and increased mean RD compared to HC.
• Significant FA reductions were observed in the corpus callosum, corona radiata, posterior thalamic radiation, and internal capsule.
• White matter changes (FA/RD) correlated significantly with anxiety, depression, and visual function quality of life scores.

Conclusions:

• DTI and TBSS are effective tools for detecting white matter alterations in MB.
• Observed white matter changes (FA/RD) may indicate underlying neurological mechanisms in MB.
• These findings highlight the impact of monocular blindness on white matter integrity and psychological well-being.