A Study Of Resting-state FMRI In Tai Chi Chuan Learning Process

Tai Chi Chuan(TCC)is a traditional Chinese exercise,which integrates beauty,mindfulness and tenderness.The practice of TCC is beneficial to cognitive ability,motor function,such as posture control,fall prevention,muscle strength and so on.At present,researches using advanced neuroimaging techniques to investigate the neuromechanism behind TCC are still insufficient;especially,the understanding of brain plasticity in the learning process of TCC is rare.This prospective study aimed to explore changes of regional homogeneity(ReHo)and functional connectivity(FC)during different learning stages of Tai Chi Chuan(TCC)by using resting-state function magnetic resonance imaging(rs-f MRI),and further to explore the correlations between these functional activity changes and TCC skill scores,as well as possible potential brain functinal index in predicting the learning effects of TCC.This study includes two parts:(1)Analysis of brain ReHo changes in the learning process of TCC.18 TCC novices were performed two repeatedly rs-f MRI at the early learning phase of TCC(2 weeks)and 14 weeks of TCC learning,respectively.Then the whole brain ReHo values of the subjects were calculated and the statistical analysis was conducted.Compared with 2 weeks of TCC learning,ReHo values of the right fusiform gyrus significantly increased,ReHo values of the left superior parietal lobule and the right cerebellum significantly decreased(P<0.05,Alpha Sim corrected)at 14 weeks of TCC learning;and there was a significant negative correlation between the changed ReHo values in the right cerebellum and the increments of TCC skill scores(r=-0.507,P=0.032).Multiple regression analysis showed that,at 2 weeks of TCC larning,ReHo values of the right middle temporal gyrus and right anterior cingulate were positively correlated with the increments of TCC skill scores(r=0.908,r=0.818,P<0.01,respectively),while the ReHo values of the left occipital gyrus and right superior temporal gyrus were nagetively correlated with the increments of TCC scores(r=-0.474,P<0.05;r=-0.824,P<0.01,respctively).These results suggest that ReHo changed along with TCC learning skills improvement,reflecting brain plasticity.In addition,the ReHo values of some brain regions in the early stage of TCC learning may possibly have potential role in predicting the learning effects of TCC.(2)Analysis of FC changes in the learning process of TCC.Based on the first study part results,intra-group different ReHo regions(right fusiform gyrus,right cerebellum and left superior parietal lobule)were selected as region of interested(ROIs),respectively,and voxel-wise functional connectivity were performed,and the changed FC of brain regions at the two time points were correlated with the increments of TCC skill scores.Compared with 2 weeks of TCC learning,FC between the ROI of the right fusiform gyrus with three regions(including the right pallidum,the left supramarginal,the right anterior cingulate)significantly increased at14 weeks of TCC learning(P<0.05,Alpha Sim corrected).There was a significant positive correlation between the changed FC values of the left supramarginal and the increments of TCC skill scores(r=0.510,P=0.03).Compared with the 2 weeks of TCC learning,FC between the ROI of the right cerebellum with the right superior occipital gyrus,and the FC between the ROI of the left parietal lobule with the right insula also increased significantly at the 14 weeks of TCC learning,but they had no correlated with the increments of TCC skill scores.These results may imply the integration of visual processing and motor control would be benefit for the later accurate motor output during TCC learning.All the findings suggest that TCC learning would influence brain functional separation and integration,and it may provide objective information for our deep understanding of brain plasticity associated with TCC training.