Brain Imaging and Behavior最新文献

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a pervasive mental disorder that significantly impairs functional capabilities, underscoring the necessity for precise stratification of its severity to facilitate tailored treatment. This study investigated the utility of voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data as a neuroimaging biomarker to differentiate varying severities of MDD in a sample drawn from the REST-meta-MDD project, which included 392 first-episode MDD patients and 440 healthy controls (HC) from 9 sites. Patients were classified into mild to moderate and severe depression groups according to the 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) scores. VMHC differences between these subgroups and their associations with HAMD scores were further examined. The results revealed significant reductions in VMHC within the fusiform gyrus for patients with mild to moderate depression compared to HCs, alongside more extensive reductions across the insula, postcentral gyrus, and angular gyrus in severe depression. Notably, increased VMHC in the middle cingulate cortex was identified in severe MDD patients relative to those with mild to moderate depression, with this increase showed a significant positive correlation with the HAMD scores. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that VMHC values in these regions effectively differentiate patients from HCs and across varying severities of MDD. These findings suggest that VMHC could serve as a valuable metric for clinical diagnosis and the stratification of depression severity, providing insights into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms associated with the disorder.

To explore the neuromelanin depigmentation of locus coeruleus (LC) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) in the isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) using neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI), and to evaluate its utility for iRBD diagnosis. A total of 25 iRBD patients and 25 healthy controls were recruited and underwent NM-MRI. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of SNc and LC, and the volume of SNc were compared between groups and evaluated visually. The power of NM measures in discriminating iRBD patients from healthy controls were performed with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under curve (AUC) was calculated. The CNR of SNc and LC, the volume of SNc, the SNc/midbrain volume ratio as well as the visual scores of SNc and LC in iRBD patients were significantly decreased than those in controls (all P < 0.05). For quantitative analysis, the LC CNR acquired the highest accuracy in predicting iRBD (AUC 0.95, sensitivity 80%, specificity 100%), followed by SNc volume (AUC 0.93, sensitivity 88%, specificity 96%) and SNc CNR (AUC 0.74, sensitivity 92%, specificity 44%). For visual analysis, the accuracy of the visual score for SNc and LC were 78% (sensitivity 68%, specificity 88%) and 86% (sensitivity 88%, specificity 84%), respectively. The NM in the SNc and LC regions were significantly reduced in iRBD patients. NM measures showed good capability in discriminating iRBD from controls, suggesting that NM-MRI may be a valuable screening tool for iRBD.

Identifying biomarkers for serious mental illnesses (SMI) has significant implications for prevention and early intervention. In the current study, changes in whole brain structural and functional connectomes were investigated in youth at transdiagnostic risk over a one-year period. Based on clinical assessments, participants were assigned to one of 5 groups: healthy controls (HC; n = 33), familial risk for serious mental illness (stage 0; n = 31), mild symptoms (stage 1a; n = 37), attenuated syndromes (stage 1b; n = 61), or discrete disorder (transition; n = 9). Constrained spherical deconvolution was used to generate whole brain tractography maps, which were then used to calculate connectivity matrices for graph theory analysis. Graph theory was also used to analyze correlations of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal between pairs of brain regions. Linear mixed models revealed structural and functional abnormalities in global metrics of small world lambda, and resting state networks involving the fronto-parietal, default mode, and deep grey matter networks, along with the visual and dorsal attention networks. Machine learning analysis additionally identified changes in nodal metrics of betweenness centrality in the angular gyrus and bilateral temporal gyri as potential features which can discriminate between the groups. Our findings further support the view that abnormalities in large scale networks (particularly those involving fronto-parietal, temporal, default mode, and deep grey matter networks) may underlie transdiagnostic risk for SMIs.

Girls who suffer from central precocious puberty (CPP) are at risk of experiencing detrimental psychological and behavioural consequences, along with impaired brain development. However, the mechanism by which puberty hormones affect patients with CPP remains unclear. This study aimed to use degree centrality (DC) analysis to explore the impact of premature activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis on brain functional development in girls with CPP. In this cross-sectional study, thirty-four girls (mean ± SD, 7.89 ± 0.81 years) with CPP and 25 age-matched girls without CPP (mean ± SD, 7.58 ± 0.73 years) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We used DC analysis to explore brain network properties in CPP girls compared to non-CPP girls. Seed-based FC analysis was performed to identify the connections responsible for the observed differences. Our findings showed that female CPP patients had increased DC in the posterior lobe of the cerebellum and prefrontal areas and increased functional connectivity (FC) between the posterior lobe of the cerebellum and default mode network (DMN) regions relative to age-matched non-CPP girls. Additionally, compared with non-CPP patients, female CPP patients exhibited decreased DC in the bilateral superior parietal gyri and left superior occipital gyrus and reduced FC between the left superior occipital gyrus and right calcarine. A negative correlation was found between basal follicle-stimulating hormone level and DC of the bilateral superior parietal gyri in girls with CPP. The current research provides evidence that premature activation of the HPG axis is associated with the development of cortical function, particularly involving the posterior lobe of the cerebellum, DMN, and prefrontal, parietal, and occipital cortices. Our findings suggest that girls with CPP require attention and early treatment for cognitive and emotional problems as well as brain development in clinical practice.

Globus Pharyngeus (GP) is a somatic symptom that accompanies mood distress. Although the etiology of GP remains unclear, its specific symptom of a false lump sensation in the throat without physical obstruction raises the possibility of alterations in brain networks responsible for somatosensory and emotion processing in patients with GP. To address this possibility, we investigated resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in 31 patients with GP and 24 healthy individuals using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Considering its significance in somatosensory and emotional functions, we focused on rsFC in the subregions of the thalamus. We found significantly decreased rsFC between the right caudal temporal thalamus (rcTtha) and the midcingulate cortex (MCC) as well as significantly decreased rsFC between the right rostral temporal thalamus (rrTtha) and the left cerebellum in the patients with GP. Additionally, within the patient group, the abnormalities in rsFC between the rcTtha and the MCC were correlated with the severity of somatization symptoms but not with depression and anxiety. These findings suggest alterations in the rsFC of thalamic subregions in patients with GP, shedding light on the pathogenesis of GP and potentially leading to improved diagnosis and treatment approaches for the condition.

Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is a non-motor symptom of Parkinson's Disease, affecting 75-95% of the patients. This symptom usually emerges before the clinical diagnosis, and patients with OD present with more severe forms of PD and need higher doses of therapy. It remains unknown whether OD is just a mere non-motor symptom or if it is a part of a series of pathological changes in different brain regions of the affected patients. We performed a systematic review to find the microstructural correlates of OD in people with PD. The systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science yielded ten eligible studies. Assessments in most included studies were inconclusive. However, we found variable brain regions and tracts associated with OD. The most repeated areas included the primary olfactory cortex, gyrus rectus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, corticospinal tract, uncinate fasciculus, cingulum, and cerebellar peduncle. Despite some limitations, we pointed out the microstructural correlates of OD, which were also present in areas other than the olfactory system. These findings imply that OD might be a manifestation of an unknown, greater pathology in the brain of patients with PD.

Patients with insomnia disorder (ID) usually experience a greater burden of comorbid anxiety symptoms. However, the neural mechanism under the mutual relationship between ID and anxiety remains largely unclear. The meta-analysis aimed to explore the concordance and distinction of regional brain functional activity in patients with ID and those with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) using coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation approach. Studies using resting-state regional homogeneity, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), or fractional ALFF in patients with ID or GAD were included by searching multiple databases up to May 24, 2024. Using meta-analytic approach, 21 studies of ID vs. healthy controls (HC) and 16 studies of GAD vs. HC were included to illuminate the common and distinct patterns between the two disorders. Results showed that ID and GAD shared increased brain activities in the left posterior cingulate cortex and left precuneus, as well as decreased brain activity in the left medial prefrontal cortex. Additionally, compared with ID, GAD showed greater increased activities in the left superior frontal gyrus. Our study reveals both common and different activation patterns between ID and GAD, which may provide novel insights for understanding the neural basis of the two disorders and enlighten the possibility of the development of more targeted treatment strategies for ID and GAD.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is frequently comorbid with cognitive impairment, but it has not been paid enough attention, and its neuroanatomical characteristics have not been fully identified. Voxel-based morphometric (VBM) studies comparing gray matter (GM) abnormalities in COPD patients with healthy controls (HCs) were searched using 8 electronic databases from the inception to March 2023. Stereotactic data were extracted and tested for convergence and differences using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method. Moreover, based on the ALE results, a structural meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) was conducted to explore the co-atrophy pattern in patients with COPD. Last, behavioral analysis was performed to assess the functional roles of the regions affected by COPD. In total, 11 studies on COPD with 949 participants were included. Voxel-based meta-analysis revealed significant GM abnormalities in the right postcentral gyrus (including inferior parietal lobule), left precentral gyrus, and left cingulate gyrus (including paracentral lobule) in patients with COPD compared with HCs. Further MACM analysis revealed a deeper co-atrophy pattern between the brain regions with abnormal GM structure and the insula in COPD patients. Behavioral analysis showed that the abnormal GM structure in the left cingulate gyrus (including paracentral lobule) was strongly associated with cognitive function, especially executive function. COPD comorbid with cognitive impairment has a specific neurostructural basis of GM structural abnormalities, which may also involve a deeper co-atrophy pattern between the insula. These findings enhance our understanding of the underlying neuropathogenesis and suggest potential imaging markers for cognitive impairment in COPD patients. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022298722.

Cognitive flexibility allows individuals to switch between different tasks, strategies, or ideas; an ability that is important for everyday life. The Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) and task switching paradigm (TSP) are popular measures of cognitive flexibility. Although both tasks require switching, the TSP requires participants to memorize switching rules and retrieve them when they view a cue (rule-retrieval), whereas the classic WCST requires participants to discover the switching rule via trial-and-error (rule-discovery). Many functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have examined brain responses to these tasks. Extant meta-analyses show concordance in activation in a widespread set of areas including frontal, parietal, and cingulate cortices. Critically, past meta-analyses have not specifically examined brain correlates associated with rule derivation (i.e., rule-discovery vs. rule-retrieval) in cognitive flexibility tasks. We examine for the first time common and distinct concordance in brain responses to rule-discovery (i.e., WCST) and rule-retrieval (i.e., TSP), as well as TSP subtypes using quantitative meta-analyses. We analyzed data from 69 eligible articles with a total of 1617 young-adult participants. Conjunction results show concordance in common fronto-parietal areas predominantly in the left hemisphere. Contrast analyses show that rule-discovery required increased involvement in multiple cortical and subcortical regions such as frontopolar (Brodmann Area 10), parietal, insular cortex, thalamus and caudate nucleus predominantly in the right hemisphere. No significant differences in concordance were observed among the three, task switching paradigm sub-types. We propose a neuroanatomical model of cognitive flexibility and discuss theoretical and practical applications.

The study aimed to examine alterations in surface-based amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and to investigate their relationships with visual function and molecular profiling. A total of 70 POAG patients and 45 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent rs-fMRI scans. The differences between POAG and HCs groups were compared by two-sample t-test. Spearman's correlation analyses assessed the relationship between ALFF/fALFF values and ophthalmic parameters. Spatial correlation analysis of the patients-control difference map with brain imaging data further explores underlying neurobiological mechanisms. POAG patients displayed altered brain activity compared to HCs, including decreased ALFF/fALFF in the visual network and increased in the frontoparietal and default mode networks. They exhibited reduced fALFF in the somatomotor network and increased ALFF in the dorsal and ventral attention networks. These changes are linked to neurotransmitter systems, with fALFF particularly associated with the dopamine system. Moreover, the altered ALFF/fALFF in brain regions related to vision and attention - the occipital lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, paracentral lobule, and frontal lobe correlated with ophthalmic examination parameters. Surface-based ALFF/fALFF in POAG decreased in visual processing regions and increased in brain regions related to cognitive control, working memory, and attention. These changes were linked to neurotransmitter distributions important for emotional stability and mental health, potentially informing treatment approaches for POAG patients.