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Updated: Aug 19, 2025
Author Spotlight: Using Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface to Improve Motor and Cognitive Function in Stroke Patients
Published on: September 1, 2023
MRI Assessment of the Relationship Between Cortical Morphological Features and Hemiparetic Motor-Related Outcomes in
Wenjun Hong1, Xin Zhang2, Zaixing Liu1
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Background:
It is unclear which cortical regions are specific to or commonly associated with the impairments of the upper/lower limbs and the activities of daily life (ADL) in stroke patients.
Purpose:
To investigate the relationships between MRI-assessed surface-based morphometry (SBM) features and motor function as well as ADL in participants with chronic stroke.
Study Type:
Prospective.
Subjects:
Thirty-five participants with subcortical stroke more than 3 months from the first-onset (age: 56.44 ± 9.56 years; 32 male).
Field Strength/Sequence:
T1 -weighted images, 3.0 T, three-dimensional fast field-echo sequence.
Assessment:
FreeSurfer (6.0) was used to parcellate each hemisphere into 34 regions based on the Desikan-Killiany atlas and to extract the surface area, volume, thickness, and curvature. The motor function and ADL were assessed by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for the Upper/Lower Extremity (FMA-UE/FMA-LE) and the Chinese version of the Modified Barthel Index (MBI-C), respectively.
Statistical Tests:
A linear mixed-effect model was applied to evaluate the relationship between the morphological features and the FMA-UE, FMA-LE, and MBI-C. A false discovery rate corrected P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results:
Correlations between the size of stroke lesion and MRI measurements did not pass the FDR correction (adjusted P > 0.05). SBM features in motor-related and high-order cognitive cortical regions showed significant correlations with FMA-UE and FMA-LE, respectively. Moreover, the thickness in the prefrontal cortex significantly positively correlated, while the surface area in the right supramarginal gyrus significantly negatively correlated, with both FMA-UE, FMA-LE, and MBI-C. The thickness in the left frontal lobe significantly positively correlated with both FMA-UE and MBI-C.
Data Conclusion:
This study's findings suggest that different hemiparetic motor-related outcomes in participants with subcortical stroke which suffered a corticospinal tract-related injury show specific, but also share common, associations with several cortical regions.
Evidence Level:
2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.
