探討靜息態下慢性下背痛患者的情緒相關腦功連結變化與臨床症狀之關係

Abstract

本研究旨在使用靜息狀態 (Resting State) 下的功能連結 (Functional Connectivity, FC) 進行探索性分析，研究慢性下背痛患者的靜息狀態功能連接及其與疼痛相關失能之間的關係。我們的結果顯示，與對照組 (n = 26) 相比，患者組 (n = 26) 在多個腦區與預設模式網絡的 FC 下降。特別的是，我們發現在右羅蘭氏腦溝區 (right Rolandic operculum)，FC 與 Oswestry 失能指數呈負相關 (r = -0.616，p <0.001)，顯示情緒處理和疼痛知覺之間的相互作用。此外，以網路為基礎的關連分析並未發現跨網路 FC 的組間差異，似乎暗示 CLBP 對 FC 的影響比較具有區域性，並且在我們的研究群體中尚未達到網絡層面。

This study conducted an exploratory analysis of resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and its association with pain-related disability in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Our results showed that as compared with the control group (n = 26), the patient group (n = 26) had decreased FC with the default mode network in multiple brain regions. Specifically, the right Rolandic operculum was identified, where FC was negatively correlated with the Oswestry disability index (r = -0.616, p < 0.001), suggesting the interplay between emotion processing and pain perception. Moreover, our results revealed no significant group-difference in cross-network FC between the entire networks, suggesting the impact of CLBP on FC is relatively regional and has not reached the network level in our study cohort.