Ann S. Choe1, 2, Visar Belegu1, 2, Cristina Sadowsky2, 3, Peter C. van Zijl4, 5, James Pekar, 56, John McDonald1, 2
1Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Hugo Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger Inc, Baltimore, MD, United States; 3Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 4Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science,, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 5F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States; 6Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
Can MRI inform classification of spinal cord injury (SCI), and assess consequent brain changes? In this study, we used advanced MR methods to report on the structural and functional alterations in the central nervous system of a patient who recovered significant neurological function after SCI. Pattern of changes in diffusion tensor imaging and magnetization transfer imaing-derived parameters in the cord was consistent with the subjects motor and sensory function evaluations, and the changes in the BNC of the subject was consistent with the subjects clinical presentation, suggesting that rs-fMRI can be used to observe brain functional changes of SCI subjects.