Gray matter alteration in patients with restless legs syndrome: a voxel-based morphometry study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate whether or not restless legs syndrome (RLS) is associated with any morphological change in gray matter. Forty-six RLS subjects and 46 controls were enrolled. We performed voxel-based morphometry analysis and compared the results of the two groups. The RLS subjects showed significant regional decreases of gray matter volume in the left hippocampal gyrus, both parietal lobes, medial frontal areas and cerebellum (uncorrected, P< .001). We found that RLS patients showed structural alteration in the brain and alterations in certain parts of the brain in RLS patients are relevant to RLS.

Keywords Restless legs syndrome; MRI; Voxel-based morphometry; Gray matter