Highlights
- •Multidisciplinary rehabilitation in people with multiple sclerosis may improve their level of activity in daily activities.
- •The fMRI results revealed a significant reduction in the activity of brain areas related to task-specific networks.
- •Brain activity also increases in not specific task areas, such as medial prefrontal area that is a connectivity core network.
Abstract
Background
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by a range of symptoms, including motor,
sensorimotor and cognitive impairments, that limit the quality of life. A multidisciplinary
rehabilitation approach in people affected by multiple sclerosis was recently reported
to improve the functional abilities of MS patients in daily activities. The purpose
of the study was to assess the effect of multidisciplinary rehabilitation on the whole
brain of MS patients by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Methods
Thirty individuals affected by MS (49.9 ± 12.1 years; disease duration: 16.0 ± 8.5
years) with a medium-high severity of disease were enrolled. The fMRI examination
assessed a range of action-related tasks involving passive movement, mental simulation
of action and miming of action triggered by external stimuli, such as object photography.
The three tasks were performed using each arm separately. The fMRI acquisitions were
performed at T1 (inclusion in the study), T2 (3 months later, at the start of rehabilitation)
and T3 (after 3 months of multidisciplinary rehabilitation).
Results
The fMRI results revealed a significant reduction in the activity of brain areas related
to task-specific networks as well as the activation of cerebral regions not usually
involved in task-specific related network, such as the medial prefrontal area.
Conclusions
The effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation on activity and participation
has been established in previous studies. Our study sheds new light on the effect
of such treatment on brain reorganization.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 05, 2020
Accepted:
April 12,
2020
Received in revised form:
April 6,
2020
Received:
October 4,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
