Improvement in facial symmetry and significant modification seen in brain functional network connectivity
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, March 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with severe oral commissure droop from facial nerve damage undergoing surgery, botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) treatment helps to alleviate muscle hyperactivity, leading to improvement in facial asymmetry, according to a study published in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Hao Ma, M.D., from Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, and colleagues examined the impact of BoNT-A treatment on the unaffected side in 38 patients with severe oral commissure droop from facial nerve damage with respect to facial symmetry and brain connectivity. Participants were divided into two groups: those who did and did not receive BoNT-A injections on the unaffected side (20 and 18 patients, respectively).
The researchers found that BoNT-A treatment improved facial symmetry and induced significant modifications in brain functional network connectivity. The modifications extended beyond the sensorimotor network, involving high-level cognitive processes. There was a significant correlation between functional network connectivity and the degree of asymmetry.
“BoNT-A treatment appears to promote significant modifications in functional brain network connectivity, thereby sustaining the positive effects of BoNT-A,” the authors write. “Our findings imply that the facial asymmetry is linked to the characteristics of large-scale functional networks.”
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