原发性不宁腿综合症脑功能网络的节律性变化研究

Idiopathic restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a circadian disorder associated with sensory-motor integration. It is of particular interest as RLS is a common disorder and has caused heavy burden on the individuals and the society. To date, the underlying pathophysiology governing its genesis remains unclear. Cumulative evidence from previous brain imaging findings using different MRI techniques suggested brain functional or metabolism alternations in idiopathic RLS. However, no neuroimaging studies on idiopathic RLS have been conducted to investigate the pathophysiology of its circadian variations. Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), a promising neuroimaging technique that noninvasively measures spontaneous neuronal activity and investigates the integration of neural networks at rest, has been widely used to study healthy and diseased brain function. Based on prior work, we hypothesize that idiopathic RLS is associated with dysfunction of regional brain activity and neural networks such as sensorimotor and limbic networks. Therefore, we planned to use rs-fMRI technique to study the circadian variations in idiopathic RLS. This will help us to further understand the neurobiological basis underlying this disorder and may provide an important neuroimaging marker for facilitating the diagnosis, disease evaluation and treatment discovery in RLS patients.

原发性不宁腿综合征（RLS）是一种常见的，涉及感觉运动整合和症状节律性变化的神经系统疾病，人们对其认识不足，给患者、家庭及社会造成巨大负担。目前其发生的病理生理学机制仍然不明。已有研究发现原发性不宁腿综合征脑功能或代谢的异常，但是国内外尚无有关RLS症状的节律性变化机制的脑影像学研究报道。静息态fMRI技术是一项很有前景的研究手段，它可以反映静息状态下神经元的自发活动，并可通过数据分析研究脑神经网络。基于以往研究发现，我们提出原发性RLS存在局部脑功能异常及神经网络异常，如感觉运动网络和边缘网络，并且这些异常存在节律性变化。因此，本项目拟通过应用静息态fMRI技术研究原发性RLS局部脑功能及神经网络的节律性变化特征，为揭示原发性RLS的病理生理机制提供基础信息，为该病的诊疗、量化评估等提供科学依据。

原发性不宁腿综合征（RLS）是一种常见的，涉及感觉运动整合和症状节律性变化的神经系统疾病，人们对其认识不足，给患者、家庭及社会造成巨大负担。目前其发生的病理生理学机制仍然不明。静息态fMRI为探索大脑功能的运行机制提供了极佳途径。我们课题组利用静息态功能磁共振技术，揭示了原发性RLS患者存在多个脑区（丘脑、中央前后回、辅助运动区、后扣带回）局部功能的节律性变化，我们进一步发现这些局部功能异常的脑区主要与感觉运动网络和默认网络节律性变化相关。我们的研究提示RLS症状的产生与其感觉运动整合异常以及内省状态失常相关。我们的项目从局部功能和神经网络的角度部分揭示了原发性RLS患者部分病理生理机制，为治疗靶点的选择提供了依据。