Decreased gray matter concentration and local synchronization of spontaneous activity in the motor cortex in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Patients with DMD have demonstrated functional abnormalities in the motor-related brain areas in previous PET, MRS, and TMS studies. We applied structural MR imaging and RS-fMRI in patients with DMD for the first time, and aimed to investigate the GMC and ReHo or local synchronization of spontaneous activity in the motor cortex. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten boys with DMD (6.4-14.0 years of age) and 15 healthy controls (7.9-15.1 years of age) underwent brain structural MR imaging and RS-fMRI scanning. GMC and local synchronization of spontaneous activity in the motor cortex were analyzed by using VBM and ReHo approaches, respectively. RESULTS Compared with healthy controls, boys with DMD showed decreased GMC in the left PSMC and decreased ReHo in the bilateral PMSC as well as in the supplementary motor area (P < .05, corrected). CONCLUSIONS The current results indicate that boys with DMD have both GMC loss and decreased local synchronization of spontaneous activity in the motor cortex, which might be due to the deficiency of dystrophin in the brain.