Resting-State Neural-Activity Alterations in Subacute Aphasia after Stroke

Linguistic deficits are frequent symptoms among stroke survivors. The neural mechanism of post-stroke aphasia (PSA) was incompletely understood. Recently, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was widely used among several neuropsychological disorders. However, previous rs-fMRI studies of PSA were limited to very small sample size and the absence of reproducibility with different neuroimaging indexes. The present study performed comparisons with static and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) based on modest sample size (40 PSA and 37 healthy controls). Compared with controls, PSA showed significantly increased static ALFF predominantly in the bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA) and right hippocampus-parahippocampus (R HIP-ParaHip) and decreased static ALFF in right cerebellum. The increased dynamic ALFF in SMA and decreased dynamic ALFF in right cerebellum were also found in PSA. The static and dynamic ALFF in right cerebellum was positively correlated with spontaneous speech. The FC between the SMA and R HIP-ParaHip was significantly stronger in patients than controls and positively correlated with ALFF in bilateral SMA. In addition, the FC between the R HIP-ParaHip and the right temporal was also enhanced in patients and negatively correlated with repetition, naming, and comprehension score. These findings revealed consistently abnormal intrinsic neural activity in SMA and cerebellum, which may underlie linguistic deficits in PSA.