Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI study
IntroductionCleft lip and/or palate (CLP) patients still have severe speech disorder requiring speech rehabilitation after surgical repair. The clarity of language rehabilitation is evaluated clinically by the Language Rehabilitation Scale. However, the pattern and underlying mechanisms of functiona...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2025.1536658/full |
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| author | Wenjing Zhang Qian Si Zhongtian Guan Lei Cao Mengyue Wang Cui Zhao Liwei Sun Xu Zhang Zhixi Zhang Chunlin Li Weiqun Song |
| author_facet | Wenjing Zhang Qian Si Zhongtian Guan Lei Cao Mengyue Wang Cui Zhao Liwei Sun Xu Zhang Zhixi Zhang Chunlin Li Weiqun Song |
| author_sort | Wenjing Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionCleft lip and/or palate (CLP) patients still have severe speech disorder requiring speech rehabilitation after surgical repair. The clarity of language rehabilitation is evaluated clinically by the Language Rehabilitation Scale. However, the pattern and underlying mechanisms of functional changes in the brain are not yet clear. Recent studies suggest that the brain’s reconfiguration efficiency appears to be a key feature of its network dynamics and general cognitive abilities. In this study, we compared the association between rehabilitation effects and reconfiguration efficiency.MethodsWe evaluated CLP patients with speech rehabilitation (n = 23) and without speech rehabilitation (n = 23) and normal controls (n = 25). Assessed CLP patients on the Chinese Speech Intelligibility Test Word Lists and collected fMRI data and behavioral data for all participants. We compared behavioral data and task activation levels between participants for between-group differences and calculated reconfiguration efficiencies for each task based on each participant. In patients, we correlated reconfiguration efficiency with task performance and measured the correlation between them.ResultsBehaviorally, CLP patients with rehabilitation scored significantly higher than those without rehabilitation on the Chinese Speech Intelligibility Test Word Lists. Rehabilitation caused local brain activation levels of CLP patients to converge toward those of controls, indicating rehabilitative effects on brain function. Analysis of reconfiguration efficiency across tasks at the local and whole-brain levels identified underlying recovery mechanisms. Whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency was significantly and positively correlated with task performance.ConclusionOur results suggest that speech rehabilitation can improve the level of language-related brain activity in CLP patients, and that reconfiguration efficiency can be used as an assessment index of language clarity to evaluate the effectiveness of brain rehabilitation in CLP patients, a finding that can provide a better understanding of the degree of brain function recovery in patients. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e9c1704bbc5e4b4bb3eed787481c1cfa |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1663-4365 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-e9c1704bbc5e4b4bb3eed787481c1cfa2025-08-20T02:02:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience1663-43652025-03-011710.3389/fnagi.2025.15366581536658Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI studyWenjing Zhang0Qian Si1Zhongtian Guan2Lei Cao3Mengyue Wang4Cui Zhao5Liwei Sun6Xu Zhang7Zhixi Zhang8Chunlin Li9Weiqun Song10Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Cyber Science and Technology, Beihang University, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Communication Sciences, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaIntroductionCleft lip and/or palate (CLP) patients still have severe speech disorder requiring speech rehabilitation after surgical repair. The clarity of language rehabilitation is evaluated clinically by the Language Rehabilitation Scale. However, the pattern and underlying mechanisms of functional changes in the brain are not yet clear. Recent studies suggest that the brain’s reconfiguration efficiency appears to be a key feature of its network dynamics and general cognitive abilities. In this study, we compared the association between rehabilitation effects and reconfiguration efficiency.MethodsWe evaluated CLP patients with speech rehabilitation (n = 23) and without speech rehabilitation (n = 23) and normal controls (n = 25). Assessed CLP patients on the Chinese Speech Intelligibility Test Word Lists and collected fMRI data and behavioral data for all participants. We compared behavioral data and task activation levels between participants for between-group differences and calculated reconfiguration efficiencies for each task based on each participant. In patients, we correlated reconfiguration efficiency with task performance and measured the correlation between them.ResultsBehaviorally, CLP patients with rehabilitation scored significantly higher than those without rehabilitation on the Chinese Speech Intelligibility Test Word Lists. Rehabilitation caused local brain activation levels of CLP patients to converge toward those of controls, indicating rehabilitative effects on brain function. Analysis of reconfiguration efficiency across tasks at the local and whole-brain levels identified underlying recovery mechanisms. Whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency was significantly and positively correlated with task performance.ConclusionOur results suggest that speech rehabilitation can improve the level of language-related brain activity in CLP patients, and that reconfiguration efficiency can be used as an assessment index of language clarity to evaluate the effectiveness of brain rehabilitation in CLP patients, a finding that can provide a better understanding of the degree of brain function recovery in patients.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2025.1536658/fullCLPspeech rehabilitationfunctional connectivityfMRIreconfiguration efficiencybiomarker |
| spellingShingle | Wenjing Zhang Qian Si Zhongtian Guan Lei Cao Mengyue Wang Cui Zhao Liwei Sun Xu Zhang Zhixi Zhang Chunlin Li Weiqun Song Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI study Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience CLP speech rehabilitation functional connectivity fMRI reconfiguration efficiency biomarker |
| title | Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI study |
| title_full | Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI study |
| title_fullStr | Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI study |
| title_short | Improved whole-brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients: an fMRI study |
| title_sort | improved whole brain reconfiguration efficiency reveals mechanisms of speech rehabilitation in cleft lip and palate patients an fmri study |
| topic | CLP speech rehabilitation functional connectivity fMRI reconfiguration efficiency biomarker |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2025.1536658/full |
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