Brain connectivity最新文献

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Background: Naturalistic stimuli have become increasingly popular in modern cognitive neuroscience. These stimuli have high ecological validity due to their rich and multi-layered features. However, their complexity also presents methodological challenges for uncovering neural network reconfiguration. Dynamic functional connectivity using the sliding-window technique is commonly used but has several limitations. In this study, we introduce a new method called inter-subject dynamic conditional correlation (ISDCC).

Method: ISDCC employs inter-subject analysis to remove intrinsic and non-neuronal signals, retaining only inter-subject-consistent stimuli-induced signals. It then applies dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) based on the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity to calculate the framewise functional connectivity. To validate ISDCC, we analyzed simulation data with known network reconfiguration patterns and two publicly available narrative fMRI datasets.

Results: 1) ISDCC accurately unveiled the underlying network reconfiguration patterns in simulation data, demonstrating greater sensitivity than DCC; 2) ISDCC identified synchronized network reconfiguration patterns across listeners; 3) ISDCC effectively differentiated between stimulus types with varying temporal coherence; 4) network reconfigurations unveiled by ISDCC were significantly correlated with listener engagement during narrative comprehension.

Conclusion: ISDCC is a precise and dynamic method for tracking network implications in response to naturalistic stimuli.

Background: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has not previously been used to localize the swallowing functional area in repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment for post-stroke dysphagia; Traditionally, the target area for rTMS is the hotspot, which is defined as the specific region of the brain identified as the optimal location for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This study aims to compare the network differences between the TMS hotspot and the saliva swallowing fMRI activation to determine the better rTMS treatment site and investigate changes in functional connectivity related to post-stroke dysphagia using resting-state fMRI.

Methods: Using an information-based approach, we conducted a single case study to explore neural functional connectivity in a patient with post-stroke dysphagia before, immediately after rTMS, and four weeks after rTMS intervention. 20 healthy participants underwent fMRI and TMS hotspot localization as a control group. Neural network alterations were assessed , and functional connections related to post-stroke dysphagia were examined using resting-state fMRI.

Results: Compared to the TMS-induced hotspots, the fMRI activation peaks were located significantly more posteriorly and exhibited stronger functional connectivity with bilateral postcentral gyri. Following rTMS treatment, this patient developed functional connection between the brainstem and the bilateral insula, caudate, anterior cingulate cortex, and cerebellum.

Conclusion: The saliva swallowing fMRI activation peaks show more intense functional connectivity with bilateral postcentral gyri compared to the TMS hotspots. Activation peak-guided rTMS treatment improves swallowing function in post-stroke dysphagia. This study proposes a novel and potentially more efficacious therapeutic target for rTMS, expanding its therapeutic options for treating post-stroke dysphagia.

Background: Individuals with spider phobic fear (SP) show hypervigilance and amygdala hyperactivity towards fear-associated stimuli, which may promote the development of other anxiety disorders. The amygdala is a key region within the fear network, which is connected to the anxiety system, where the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) plays a crucial role. However, the BNST's involvement in phobic fear is unknown. Therefore, this study investigated the association of phobic fear and anxiety on these regions' functional connectivity (FC) in SP compared to healthy controls (HC). Methods: 7T-fMRI resting-state FC of 30 individuals with SP and 45 HC was assessed to detect network differences between these groups. The association of phobic fear severity, trait anxiety, and social anxiety on FC was explored using linear regressions combined with seed-to-voxel analyses with amygdala and BNST as primary seeds, corrected for age and sex. Results: In SP, phobic fear was associated with reduced FC between the left amygdala and the right supramarginal gyrus. In contrast, anxiety severity was related to increased FC between the right BNST and the left inferior frontal gyrus. Moreover, social anxiety was related to decreased FC between bilateral BNST and left precuneus. Conclusions: These findings show changes in FC in SP, connecting fear with altered activity in the BNST and amygdala. The results suggest that persistent anxiety in phobic fear is associated with abnormal brain function in these regions, potentially explaining susceptibility to anxiety disorders and processes involved in phobic fear, such as threat perception, avoidance, and salience.

[Please note that in order to respond to reviewers request we had exceed the 300 word limit. The following is NOT revised from the first submission, please see the actual revised manuscript file for the reviewer-driven changes].

Introduction: Recent addiction and obesity-related research suggest that episodic future thinking (EFT) can serve as a promising intervention to promote healthy decision making. This study investigated the neural effects of EFT in alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Methods: Participants received either a brief EFT or control intervention to examine differences in resting-state connectivity. We then used these findings to characterize psychophysiological interaction (PPI) differences during a delay discounting (DD) fMRI task. In addition, we used a second control group of AUD participants without any intervention to reproduce and aid in interpreting our key findings.

Results: EFT participants, but not controls, showed statistically improved discounting rates - a behavioral marker for addiction. Resting state analyses of the left hippocampus revealed connectivity differences in the frontal poles. The directionality of this difference suggested that EFT reduced a hypoconnectivity relationship between these regions in AUD. We also found resting state connectivity differences between the salience network and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (R DLPFC), which then led us to discover R-to-L DLPFC PPI differences during DD. Moreover, the resting state salience-to-DLPFC functional connectivity showed an inverse relationship to discounting rate while hyperconnectivity between left and right DLPFC reflected slower reaction times during difficult DD trials.

Discussion: These findings suggest that EFT produces beneficial changes in neural connectivity patterns in AUD. The alterations in connectivity highlight potential mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of EFT in improving decision-making in AUD. Understanding these neural effects may contribute to the further development of targeted interventions for AUD and related disorders.

Background: Olfactory deterioration is suggested to be a predictor of some neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies indicate that physical exercise has a positive relationship with olfactory performance, and a subregion in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may play an important role in olfactory processing. The PFC is not only related to olfactory function, but also engages in complex functions such as cognition and emotional processing.

Methodology: Our study compared the functional connectivity between the olfactory cortex and the prefrontal cortex in healthy individuals who exercised regularly and healthy persons who did not. Those who exercised more than 3 times/week for at least 30 min each time were considered the exercise group, and those who did not meet this exercise criteria were considered the non-exercise group. We also assessed their odor threshold. Participants were aged 55 years or older, and the two groups were balanced for age, sex, body mass index, and educational level.

Results: We found that compared with individuals who did not exercise, exercisers had a significantly lower threshold for detecting odors. In addition, the olfactory cortex had stronger connectivity with the PFC in exercisers than in non-exercisers. More specifically, when the PFC was grouped into three subregions, namely, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and frontopolar cortex (FPA), Pearson correlation analysis revealed stronger connectivity between the VLPFC and the OFC, between the OFC and the FPA, and between the left and right OFC hemispheres in the exercisers. In addition, Granger causality indicated higher directional connectivity from the DLPFC to the OFC in exercisers than in non-exercisers.

Conclusion: Our findings indicated that the exercise group not only had better olfactory performance but also had stronger functional connectivity between the olfactory cortex and the PFC than non-exercise group.

Background: Brain tumors are associated with impaired cognitive functioning, which may result from disruptions in brain structural connectivity. Estimating structural disconnections is a more advantageous representation of tumor impact and can be performed indirectly through normative brain atlases.

Materials and methods: Using a publicly available dataset of glioma and meningioma patient MRI scans and tumor masks, latent correlations were estimated between measures of structural disconnection and attention-based cognitive functioning. These measures included gray matter (GM) parcel damage, white matter tract (WMT) damage, GM parcel-to-parcel disconnections, and reaction time (RTI) as part of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to assess attention.

Results: Preprocessing pipelines with two different methods of minimizing the pathology impact on MRI normalization were utilized: cost function masking and lesion filling. The results across both pipelines were nearly consistent, with significant correlations mainly found between RTI measures and the damage to left inferior fronto-occipital and uncinate fasciculus, as well as the left prefrontal-visual disconnections.

Conclusions: This alludes to the importance of left-hemispheric prefrontal-visual coupling in attention-based tasks, particularly those involving object- and feature-based attention.

Introduction: Prediction error (PE) is key to perception in the predictive coding framework. However, previous studies indicated the varied neural activities evoked by PE in tinnitus patients. Here, we aimed to reconcile the conflict by (1) a more nuanced view of PE, which could be driven by changing stimulus (stimulus-driven PE [sPE]) and violation of current context (context-driven PE [cPE]) and (2) investigating the aberrant connectivity networks that are engaged in the processing of the two types of PEs in tinnitus patients. Methods: Ten tinnitus patients with normal hearing and healthy controls were recruited, and a local-global auditory oddball paradigm was applied to measure the electroencephalographic difference between the two groups during sPE and cPE conditions. Results: Overall, the sPE condition engaged bottom-up and top-down connections, whereas the cPE condition engaged mostly top-down connections. The tinnitus group showed decreased sensitivity to the sPE and increased sensitivity to the cPE condition. Particularly, the auditory cortex and posterior cingulate cortex were the hubs for processing cPE in the control and tinnitus groups, respectively, showing the orientation to an internal state in tinnitus. Furthermore, tinnitus patients showed stronger connectivity to the parahippocampus and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex for the establishment of the prediction during the cPE condition. Conclusion: These results begin to dissect the role of changes in stimulus characteristics versus changes in the context of processing the same stimulus in mechanisms of tinnitus generation.

Purpose: This study investigated the association between psychological resilience and resting-state network functional connectivity of three major brain networks in pediatric concussion. Methods: This was a substudy of a randomized controlled trial, recruiting children with concussion and orthopedic injury. Participants completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience 10 Scale and underwent magnetic resonance imaging at 72 h and 4-weeks postinjury. We explored associations between resilience and connectivity with the default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), and salience network (SN) at both timepoints and also any change that occurred over time. We also explored associations between resilience and connectivity within each network. Results: A total of 67 children with a concussion (median age = 12.87 [IQR: 11.79-14.36]; 46% female) and 30 with orthopedic injury (median age = 12.27 [IQR: 11.19-13.94]; 40% female) were included. Seed-to-voxel analyses detected a positive correlation between 72-h resilience and CEN connectivity in the concussion group. Group moderated associations between resilience and SN connectivity at 72 h, as well as resilience and DMN connectivity over time. Regions-of-interest analyses identified group as a moderator of longitudinal resilience and within-DMN connectivity. Conclusions: These results suggest that neural recovery from concussion could be reliant on resilience. Resilience was related to functional connectivity with three of the main networks in the brain that are often impacted by concussion. Improving resilience might be investigated as a modifiable variable in children as both a protective and restorative in the context of concussion. Clinical Trial Registration Identifier: NCT05105802. PedCARE^+MRI team (see Supplementary Appendix S1).