Gray matter volume changes in chronic subcortical stroke: A cross-sectional study

This study aimed to investigate the effects of lesion side and degree of motor recovery on gray matter volume (GMV) difference relative to healthy controls in right-handed subcortical stroke. Structural MRI data were collected in 97 patients with chronic subcortical ischemic stroke and 79 healthy controls. Voxel-wise GMV analysis was used to investigate the effects of lesion side and degree of motor recovery on GMV difference in right-handed chronic subcortical stroke patients. Compared with healthy controls, right-lesion patients demonstrated GMV increase (P < 0.05, voxel-wise false discovery rate correction) in the bilateral paracentral lobule (PCL) and supplementary motor area (SMA) and the right middle occipital gyrus (MOG); while left-lesion patients did not exhibit GMV difference under the same threshold. Patients with complete and partial motor recovery showed similar degree of GMV increase in right-lesion patients. However, the motor recovery was correlated with the GMV increase in the bilateral SMA in right-lesion patients. These findings suggest that there exists a lesion-side effect on GMV difference relative to healthy controls in right-handed patients with chronic subcortical stroke. The GMV increase in the SMA may facilitate motor recovery in subcortical stroke patients.