Regional structural abnormalities in thalamus in idiopathic cervical dystonia

TL;DR

This study identifies specific thalamic regions with reduced volume in patients with idiopathic cervical dystonia compared to healthy individuals.

Contribution

The study reveals regional structural abnormalities in thalamic nuclei specific to idiopathic cervical dystonia.

Findings

Significant volume reduction in multiple thalamic nuclei was found in patients with iCD.

No significant correlations were found between altered thalamic volumes and clinical features in iCD patients.

Abstract

The thalamus has a central role in the pathophysiology of idiopathic cervical dystonia (iCD); however, the nature of alterations occurring within this structure remain largely elusive. Using a structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach, we examined whether abnormalities differ across thalamic subregions/nuclei in patients with iCD.

Structural MRI data were collected from 37 patients with iCD and 37 healthy controls (HCs). Automatic parcellation of 25 thalamic nuclei in each hemisphere was performed based on the FreeSurfer program. Differences in thalamic nuclei volumes between groups and their relationships with clinical information were analysed in patients with iCD.

Compared to HCs, a significant reduction in thalamic nuclei volume primarily in central medial, centromedian, lateral geniculate, medial geniculate, medial ventral, paracentral, parafascicular, paratenial, and ventromedial nuclei was found in patients with iCD (P < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected). However, no statistically significant correlations were observed between altered thalamic nuclei volumes and clinical characteristics in iCD group.

This study highlights the neurobiological mechanisms of iCD related to thalamic volume changes.

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