Alterations of the thalamic nuclei volumes and intrinsic thalamic network in patients with restless legs syndrome

We aimed to investigate the alterations of thalamic nuclei volumes and intrinsic thalamic network in patients with primary restless legs syndrome (RLS) compared to healthy controls. Seventy-one patients with primary RLS and 55 healthy controls were recruited. They underwent brain MRI using a three-t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2023-03, Vol.13 (1), p.4415-4415, Article 4415
Main Authors: Park, Kang Min, Kim, Keun Tae, Lee, Dong Ah, Cho, Yong Won
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
692/420
692/617/375
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
multidisciplinary
Pulvinar
Restless legs syndrome
Restless Legs Syndrome - diagnostic imaging
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Thalamic nuclei
Thalamic Nuclei - diagnostic imaging
Thalamus
Thalamus - diagnostic imaging
Theoretical analysis
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Summary:We aimed to investigate the alterations of thalamic nuclei volumes and intrinsic thalamic network in patients with primary restless legs syndrome (RLS) compared to healthy controls. Seventy-one patients with primary RLS and 55 healthy controls were recruited. They underwent brain MRI using a three-tesla MRI scanner, including three-dimensional T1-weighted images. The intrinsic thalamic network was determined using graph theoretical analysis. The right and left whole thalamic volumes, and the right pulvinar inferior, left ventral posterolateral, left medial ventral, and left pulvinar inferior nuclei volumes in the patients with RLS were lower than those in healthy controls (0.433 vs. 0.447%, p  = 0.034; 0.482 vs. 0.502%, p  = 0.016; 0.013 vs. 0.015%, p  = 0.031; 0.062 vs. 0.065%, p  = 0.035; 0.001 vs. 0.001%, p  = 0.034; 0.018 vs. 0.020%, p  = 0.043; respectively). There was also a difference in the intrinsic thalamic network between the groups. The assortative coefficient in patients with RLS was higher than that in healthy controls (0.0318 vs. − 0.0358, p  = 0.048). We demonstrated the alterations of thalamic nuclei volumes and intrinsic thalamic network in patients with RLS compared to healthy controls. These changes might be related to RLS pathophysiology and suggest the pivotal role of the thalamus in RLS symptoms.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-31606-8