Functional Imaging of Cognitive and Visual Processing in Brain Disorders
Summary
Functional imaging has transformed our understanding of how the human brain processes visual information and supports cognitive functions, particularly in the context of disease. Non-invasive techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) allow precise mapping of activity and tissue properties across cortical and subcortical regions. In disorders affecting vision—such as glaucoma, myopia and thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy—resting-state and task-based paradigms reveal disrupted connectivity within visual pathways and between visual centres and higher-order cognitive networks. Metrics including voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC), degree centrality and regional homogeneity (ReHo) have identified region-specific dysfunction and compensatory reorganisation. Simultaneously, studies of attention, eye-movement control and attentional reorienting demonstrate how frontal and parietal cortices adapt to sensory loss or injury. Machine-learning classifiers applied to imaging metrics show promise for diagnostic biomarkers. Together, these advances illuminate the dynamic interplay of sensory and cognitive systems in brain disorders, inform prognostic assessments and suggest targets for therapeutic modulation.
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Functional Imaging of Cognitive and Visual Processing in Brain Disorders publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in functional imaging of cognitive and visual processing in brain disorders across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): An imaging modality that measures blood-oxygen-level-dependent signals to infer neural activity patterns.
Voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC): A metric quantifying synchrony between each voxel and its contralateral counterpart in resting-state fMRI.
Degree centrality: A graph-theoretical measure of the number of direct functional connections a given voxel or region has within a network.
Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM): An MRI technique that quantifies magnetic susceptibility variations, often reflecting iron or myelin content.
Regional homogeneity (ReHo): A measure of local synchronisation of resting-state fMRI signals among neighbouring voxels.
Machine-learning classifier: An algorithm that learns patterns in imaging metrics to categorise individuals into patient or control groups.
References
- Spontaneous changes in brain network centrality in patients with pathological myopia: A voxel‐wise degree centrality analysis. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics (2023).
- Increased brain iron in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy: a whole-brain analysis. Frontiers in Endocrinology (2023).
- Comparative study of interhemispheric functional connectivity in left eye monocular blindness versus right eye monocular blindness: a resting-state functional MRI study. Oncotarget (2018).
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