Comparison of intrinsic brain activity in individuals with low/moderate myopia versus high myopia revealed by the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations

Background Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated that individuals with high myopia are associated with abnormalities in anatomy of the brain. Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore alterations in the intrinsic brain activity by studying the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations. Material and Methods A total of 64 myopia individuals (41 with high myopia with a refractive error <-600 diopter [D], 23 with low/moderate myopia with a refractive error between -100 and -600 D, and similarly 59 healthy controls with emmetropia closely matched for age) were recruited. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations method was conducted to investigate the difference of intrinsic brain activity across three groups. Results Compared with the healthy controls, individuals with low/moderate myopia showed significantly decreased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values in the bilateral rectal gyrus, right cerebellum anterior lobe/calcarine, and bilateral thalamus and showed significantly increased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values in left white matter (optic radiation), right prefrontal cortex, and left primary motor cortex (M1)/primary somatosensory cortex (S1). In addition, individuals with high myopia showed significantly decreased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values in the right cerebellum anterior lobe/calcarine/bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, bilateral posterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral middle cingulate cortex and significantly increased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values in left white matter (optic radiation), bilateral frontal parietal cortex, and left M1/S1. Moreover, we found that the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values of the different brain areas was closely related to the clinical features in the high myopia group. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that individuals with low/moderate myopia and high myopia had abnormal intrinsic brain activities in various brain regions related to the limbic system, default mode network, and thalamo-occipital pathway.