Study of vision‐related resting‐state activity in suprasellar tumor patients with postoperative visual damage

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The objective of this study was to investigate changes in vision‐related resting‐state activity in patients with suprasellar tumors (ST) who experienced vision deterioration after surgery. Methods Twelve patients with ST and vision deterioration after surgery were included in the study. Resting‐state functional connectivity (FC) was compared before and after surgery using a seed‐based analysis with a priori specified regions of interest (ROIs) within the visual areas. The differences between the two groups were identified using a paired t‐test. Results The data showed a decrease in FC within and between the dorsal and ventral pathways, as well as in the third pathway in ST patients. The middle temporal visual cortex (MT+) showed a decreased FC with more regions than other visual ROIs. The data also revealed an increase in FC between the visual ROIs and higher‐order cortex. The superior frontal gyrus/BA8 showed an increased FC with more ROIs than other high‐order regions, and the hOC4d was involved in an increased FC with more high‐order regions than other ROIs. Conclusions The study results indicate significant neural reorganization in the vision‐related cortex of ST patients with postoperative vision damage. Most subareas within the visual cortex showed remarkable neural dysfunction, and some highe‐order cortex may be primarily involved in top‐down control of the subareas within the visual cortex. The hot zones may arise in the processing of “top‐down” influence.

Keywords

• functional connectivity
• resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging
• suprasellar tumor
• visual damage