Byeong-Yeul Lee1,2, Jong M. Kim3,
Yeun Chul Ryu1, James R. Connor4, Qing X. Yang1,4
1Center for NMR Research,
Radiology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States; 2Bioengineering,
Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States; 3Biomedical
Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; 4Neurosurgery,
Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disorder in which cerebral iron deficiency is strongly involved in the pathology. Due to irons role in the myelination in white matter, we developed an image analysis tool for the callosal thickness measurement, and applied voxel-based morphometry for the volumetric measurement. Compared to age-matched controls, we observed a decrease both in the thickness and volume in the midbody region of the corpus callosum in RLS connecting primary motor and somatosensory areas, suggesting a decrease in the myelination. Therefore, we speculate that impaired iron deficiency in RLS leads to myelin deficit, affecting brain functional synchrony impairment, and may contribute to the symptoms of RLS.