Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40330248›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in neurology2025

MR-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy modulates cerebello-thalamo-cortical tremor network in essential tremor patients.

Li Jiang, Dheeraj Gandhi, Andrew Furman, Howard M Eisenberg, Paul Fishman, Elias R Melhem, Rao P Gullapalli, Jiachen Zhuo

Abstract read
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Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Li JiangDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Dheeraj GandhiDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Andrew FurmanDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Howard M EisenbergDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Paul FishmanDepartment of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Elias R MelhemDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Rao P GullapalliDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Jiachen ZhuoDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objectives: To advance the mechanistic understanding of changes occurring to brain connectivity after successful MR-guided Focused Ultrasound ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) thalamotomy for essential tremor (ET). Methods: This retrospective study included fifteen right-handed ET patients, who underwent successful unilateral VIM ablation and experienced improved hand tremor on their dominant hand. Resting-state fMRI scans were conducted both before and 1-year post-treatment for all participants. A seed-based whole brain resting-state functional connectivity (FC) analysis was performed, centering on tremor-related regions within the cerebello-thalamo-cortical (CTC) network, including the left and right ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM), primary motor cortex (M1H), and dentate nucleus (DN). The study examined both the changes in FC and their correlation with clinical outcomes evaluated using the Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor (CRST) at the 1-year post-treatment. Results: ET patients demonstrated significant tremor improvement at the treated hand, which persisted throughout the 1-year study period. Compared with the baseline, FC of both left VIM and right VIM decreased in precentral gyrus and postcentral gyrus; FC of left M1 hand area increased in premotor cortex and supplemental motor area (SMA); and FC of left DN also increased in premotor cortex, SMA, M1, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Association analysis between changes in left VIM functional connectivity and contralateral hand tremor scores revealed a significant negative correlation in the bilateral precentral gyrus, superior parietal lobule, precuneus, occipital cortex, and middle prefrontal cortex. Conversely, a significant positive correlation was observed in the frontal orbital cortex, right insular cortex, temporal pole, hippocampus, left lingual gyrus, right cerebellar lobules IV/V, left cerebellar lobule VI, and vermis IV/V. Conclusion: Our findings of altered functional connectivity within the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network, encompassing regions involved in motor, sensory, attention, visual, and visuospatial functions, and its association with hand tremor improvement suggest that targeting functional connectivity abnormalities may be a potential approach for alleviating tremor symptoms in ET patients.

Indexed as

cerebello-thalamo-cortical networkessential tremorMRgFUS thalamotomyresting-state fMRItremor network

Identifiers

PMID40330248
PMCPMC12053286

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.