失语症康复治疗前后脑可塑性的多模态磁共振研究

Post-stroke aphasia is caused by acute or chronic stroke, which always results from left-hemisphere lesions and difficult to treat and has a poor prognosis. Non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can be used as an important tool to enhance recovery after stroke. However, the imaging characteristics of tDCS that related to rehabilitation are still not clear. This project aims to address the issues of the imaging characterization of brain function changes and structural changes of aphasia patients before and after tDCS treatment, and to develop multi-modal longitudinal brain imaging analyses methods as well as a deep-learning prediction model. Our research mainly includes: (1) establishing a clinical and imaging database of aphasia patients before and after tDCS treatment; (2) detecting key anomalous neural circuits of aphasia and reveal brain imaging features from the network level of brain function and structure; (3) establishing longitudinal multimodal brain imaging analyses methods and searching the relationships between behavior and brain imaging before and after tDCS treatment of aphasia; (4) developing multimodal image fusion methods and constructing the therapeutic efficacy prediction model based on deep-learning methods to reveal the therapeutic mechanisms of rehabilitation treatment. This project will provide quantitative imaging evidences and multimodal brain imaging analyses methods for predicting the therapeutic effect of aphasia diseases.

脑卒中后失语症是因卒中引起的大脑优势半球语言中枢损伤，治疗难度大且预后欠佳。无创性调节大脑皮层神经元活动的经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）是失语症康复治疗的重要手段之一，但tDCS治疗对其影像表征的影响还不清楚。本项目拟针对失语症患者tDCS康复治疗前后脑功能和结构变化的影像表征的临床科学问题，发展多模态纵向脑影像分析法和深度学习预测模型。研究内容包括：（1）建立失语症tDCS康复治疗前后临床和影像数据库；（2）发展多模态脑网络分析方法，探测失语症的关键异常神经环路，从脑功能和结构的网络层面揭示其影像表征；（3）发展tDCS康复治疗前后纵向多模态脑影像分析方法，建立失语症tDCS康复治疗前后行为和脑影像之间的表征关系；（4）发展多模态影像融合的分析方法，建立基于深度学习的tDCS治疗疗效预测模型，揭示康复治疗的疗效机制。项目实施将为失语症疾病的疗效预测提供量化的影像学依据和多模态脑影像分析方法。

卒中后失语症由于大脑优势半球语言中枢器质性损伤，并伴随大脑局灶性病变和分布式语言网络功能障碍，对患者的生活带来了极大的影响。然而其发病的神经影像机制，以及康复治疗前后的多模态脑影像、脑可塑性改变却尚不清楚。本项目通过采集失语症患者多模态脑影像数据，建立失语症康复治疗前后临床和影像数据库；发展多模态影像学方法，从白质、灰质等不同模态探究其病理机制，通过不同的研究方法更为深入地刻画精神疾病所导致的脑影像改变，以及与语言功能、生化代谢和认知水平等的潜在关系；并将结构和功能磁共振等多模态脑影像方法应用于失语症影像机制研究，为失语症的诊治提供的新的影像指标。为失语症疾病的疗效预测提供量化的影像学依据和多模态脑影像分析方法。本项目的相关研究工作为失语症康复治疗前后脑可塑性变化的脑影像研究提供了新的研究方法和思路，建立起了失语症多模态脑影像与临床表征的潜在关系，为失语症的诊疗提供了新的影像学参考和神经标记物。