Characterizing dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and its relationship with dynamic functional connectivity: An application to schizophrenia

Long-term table tennis training alters dynamic functional connectivity and white matter microstructure in large scale brain regions

Table tennis training has been employed as an exercise treatment to enhance cognitive brain functioning in patients with mental illnesses. However, research on its underlying mechanisms remains limited. In this study, we investigated functional and structural changes in large-scale brain regions between 20 table tennis players (TTPs) and 21 healthy controls (HCs) using 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Compared with those of HCs, TTPs exhibited significantly greater fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial diffusivity (AD) values in multiple fiber tracts. We used the locations with the most significant structural changes in white matter as the seed areas and then compared static and dynamic functional connectivity (sFC and dFC). Brodmann 11, located in the orbitofrontal cortex, showed altered dFC values to large-scale brain regions, such as the occipital lobe, thalamus, and cerebellar hemispheres, in TTPs. Brodmann 48, located in the temporal lobe, showed altered dFC to the parietal lobe, frontal lobe, cerebellum, and occipital lobe. Furthermore, the AD values of the forceps minor (Fmi) and right anterior thalamic radiations (ATRs) were negatively correlated with useful field of view (UFOV) test scores in TTPs. Our results suggest that table tennis players exhibit a unique pattern of dynamic neural activity, this provides evidence for potential mechanisms through which table tennis interventions can enhance attention and other cognitive functions.

Altered dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in individuals at high risk for Alzheimer's disease

The brain's dynamic spontaneous neural activity is significant in supporting cognition; however, how brain dynamics go awry in subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remains unclear. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) alterations in patients at high risk for Alzheimer's disease and to explore its correlation with clinical cognitive assessment scales, to identify an early imaging sign for these special populations. A total of 152 participants, including 72 SCD patients, 44 MCI patients and 36 healthy controls (HCs), underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and were assessed with various neuropsychological tests. The dALFF was measured using sliding-window analysis. We employed canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to examine the bi-multivariate correlations between neuropsychological scales and altered dALFF among multiple regions in SCD and MCI patients. Compared to those in the HC group, both the MCI and SCD groups showed higher dALFF values in the right opercular inferior frontal gyrus (voxel P < .001, cluster P < .05, correction). Moreover, the CCA models revealed that behavioural tests relevant to inattention correlated with the dALFF of the right middle frontal gyrus and right opercular inferior frontal gyrus, which are involved in frontoparietal networks (R = .43, P = .024). In conclusion, the brain dynamics of neural activity in frontal areas provide insights into the shared neural basis underlying SCD and MCI.

Altered patterns of dynamic functional connectivity of brain networks in deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia

This study aims to investigate the altered patterns of dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) between deficit schizophrenia (DS) and non-deficit schizophrenia (NDS), and further explore the associations with cognitive impairments. 70 DS, 91 NDS, and 120 matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. The independent component analysis was used to segment the whole brain. The fMRI brain atlas was used to identify functional networks, and the dynamic functional connectivity (FC) of each network was detected. Correlation analysis was used to explore the associations between altered dFNC and cognitive functions. Four dynamic states were identified. Compared to NDS, DS showed increased FC between sensorimotor network and default mode network in state 1 and decreased FC within auditory network in state 4. Additionally, DS had a longer mean dwell time of state 2 and a shorter one in state 3 compared to NDS. Correlation analysis showed that fraction time and mean dwell time of states were correlated with cognitive impairments in DS. This study demonstrates the distinctive altered patterns of dFNC between DS and NDS patients. The associations with impaired cognition provide specific neuroimaging evidence for the pathogenesis of DS.

Dynamic Changes in Local Brain Connectivity and Activity: A Longitudinal Study in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa

BACKGROUND

Resting-state functional connectivity analysis has been used to study disruptions in neural circuitries underlying eating disorder symptoms. Research has shown resting-state functional connectivity to be altered during the acute phase of anorexia nervosa (AN), but little is known about the biological mechanisms underlying neural changes associated with weight restoration. The goal of the current study was to investigate longitudinal changes in regional homogeneity (ReHo) among neighboring voxels, degree centrality (DC) (a voxelwise whole brain correlation coefficient), voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) (measuring the synchronization between hemispheres), and the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations associated with weight gain during AN treatment.

METHODS

Resting-state functional connectivity data were acquired and analyzed from a sample of 174 female volunteers: 87 underweight patients with AN that were scanned before treatment and again after at least 12% body mass index increase, as well as 87 age-matched healthy control participants.

RESULTS

Longitudinal changes in ReHo, DC, VMHC, and the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations were observed in most regions identified to differ between patients with AN before treatment and healthy control participants. However, the degree of normalization varied for each parameter, ranging from 9% of all clusters in DC to 66% in VMHC. Longitudinal changes in ReHo and VMHC showed a linear association weight gain.

CONCLUSIONS

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging measures, including ReHo, DC, VMHC, and the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, show varying degrees of recovery after short-term weight restoration. Although only some of these changes were related to weight gain, our results provide an overall positive message, suggesting that weight restoration is associated with changes in functional brain measures that point toward normalization.

Beyond the aging spine - a systematic review of functional changes in the human brain in cervical spondylotic myelopathy

Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy (CSM) is a degenerative condition that leads to loss of cervical spinal cord integrity, typically affecting the aged population. Emerging fMRI-based evidence suggests that the brain is also affected by CSM. This systematic review aimed to understand the usefulness of brain fMRI in CSM. A comprehensive literature search was conducted until March 2023 according to PRISMA guidelines. The inclusion criteria included original research articles in English, primarily studying the human brain's functional changes in CSM using fMRI with at least 5 participants. The extracted data from each study included demographics, disease severity, MRI machine characteristics, affected brain areas, functional changes, and clinical utilities. A total of 30 studies met the inclusion criteria. Among the fMRI methods, resting-state fMRI was the most widely used experimental paradigm, followed by motor tasks. The brain areas associated with motor control were most affected in CSM, followed by the superior frontal gyrus and occipital cortex. Functional changes in the brain were correlated to clinical metrics showing clinical utility. However, the evidence that a specific fMRI metric correlating with a clinical metric was "very low" to "insufficient" due to a low number of studies and negative results. In conclusion, fMRI can potentially facilitate the diagnosis of CSM by quantitatively interrogating the functional changes of the brain, particularly areas of the brain associated with motor control. However, this field is in its early stages, and more studies are needed to establish the usefulness of brain fMRI in CSM.

Characterizing the temporal dynamics of intrinsic brain activities in depressed adolescents with prior suicide attempts

Converging evidence has revealed disturbances in the corticostriatolimic system are associated with suicidal behaviors in adults with major depressive disorder. However, the neurobiological mechanism that confers suicidal vulnerability in depressed adolescents is largely unknown. A total of 86 depressed adolescents with and without prior suicide attempts (SA) and 47 healthy controls underwent resting-state functional imaging (R-fMRI) scans. The dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dALFF) was measured using sliding window approach. We identified SA-related alterations in dALFF variability primarily in the left middle temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus (MFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), right SFG, supplementary motor area (SMA) and insula in depressed adolescents. Notably, dALFF variability in the left MFG and SMA was higher in depressed adolescents with recurrent suicide attempts than in those with a single suicide attempt. Moreover, dALFF variability was capable of generating better diagnostic and prediction models for suicidality than static ALFF. Our findings suggest that alterations in brain dynamics in regions involved in emotional processing, decision-making and response inhibition are associated with an increased risk of suicidal behaviors in depressed adolescents. Furthermore, dALFF variability could serve as a sensitive biomarker for revealing the neurobiological mechanisms underlying suicidal vulnerability.

The brain entropy dynamics in resting state

As a novel measure for irregularity and complexity of the spontaneous fluctuations of brain activities, brain entropy (BEN) has attracted much attention in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) studies during the last decade. Previous studies have shown its associations with cognitive and mental functions. While most previous research assumes BEN is approximately stationary during scan sessions, the brain, even at its resting state, is a highly dynamic system. Such dynamics could be characterized by a series of reoccurring whole-brain patterns related to cognitive and mental processes. The present study aims to explore the time-varying feature of BEN and its potential links with general cognitive ability. We adopted a sliding window approach to derive the dynamical brain entropy (dBEN) of the whole-brain functional networks from the HCP (Human Connectome Project) rs-fMRI dataset that includes 812 young healthy adults. The dBEN was further clustered into 4 reoccurring BEN states by the k-means clustering method. The fraction window (FW) and mean dwell time (MDT) of one BEN state, characterized by the extremely low overall BEN, were found to be negatively correlated with general cognitive abilities (i.e., cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and processing speed). Another BEN state, characterized by intermediate overall BEN and low within-state BEN located in DMN, ECN, and part of SAN, its FW, and MDT were positively correlated with the above cognitive abilities. The results of our study advance our understanding of the underlying mechanism of BEN dynamics and provide a potential framework for future investigations in clinical populations.

Altered dynamic and static brain activity and functional connectivity in COVID-19 patients: a preliminary study

This study aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on brain functional activity through resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). fMRI scans were conducted on a cohort of 42 confirmed COVID-19-positive patients and 46 healthy controls (HCs) to assess brain functional activity. A combination of dynamic and static amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dALFF/sALFF) and dynamic and static functional connectivity (dFC/sFC) was used for evaluation. Abnormal brain regions identified were then used as feature inputs in the model to evaluate support vector machine (SVM) capability in recognizing COVID-19 patients. Moreover, the random forest (RF) model was employed to verify the stability of SVM diagnoses for COVID-19 patients. Compared to HCs, COVID-19 patients exhibited a decrease in sALFF in the right lingual gyrus and the left medial occipital gyrus and an increase in dALFF in the right straight gyrus. Moreover, there was a decline in sFC between both lingual gyri and the right superior occipital gyrus and a reduction in dFC with the precentral gyrus. The dynamic and static combined ALFF and FC could distinguish between COVID-19 patients and the HCs with an accuracy of 0.885, a specificity of 0.818, a sensitivity of 0.933 and an area under the curve of 0.909. The combination of dynamic and static ALFF and FC can provide information for detecting brain functional abnormalities in COVID-19 patients.

Decreased intrinsic neural timescale in treatment-naïve adolescent depression

BACKGROUND

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is mainly characterized by its core dysfunction in higher-order brain cortices involved in emotional and cognitive processes, whose neurobiological basis remains unclear. In this study, we applied a relatively new developed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) method of intrinsic neural timescale (INT), which reflects how long neural information is stored in a local brain area and reflects an ability of information integration, to investigate the local intrinsic neural dynamics using univariate and multivariate analyses in adolescent depression.

METHOD

Based on the rs-fMRI data of sixty-six treatment-naïve adolescents with MDD and fifty-two well-matched healthy controls (HCs), we calculated an INT by assessing the magnitude of autocorrelation of the resting-state brain activity, and then compared the difference of INT between the two groups. Correlation between abnormal INT and clinical features was performed. We also utilized multivariate pattern analysis to determine whether INT could differentiate MDD patients from HCs at the individual level.

RESULT

Compared with HCs, patients with MDD showed shorter INT widely distributed in cortical and partial subcortical regions. Interestingly, the decreased INT in the left hippocampus was related to disease severity of MDD. Furthermore, INT can distinguish MDD patients from HCs with the most discriminative regions located in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, angular, middle occipital gyrus, and cerebellar posterior lobe.

CONCLUSION

Our research aids in advancing understanding the brain abnormalities of treatment-naïve adolescents with MDD from the perspective of the local neural dynamics, highlighting the significant role of INT in understanding neurophysiological mechanisms. This study shows that the altered intrinsic timescales of local neural signals widely distributed in higher-order brain cortices regions may be the neurodynamic basis of cognitive and emotional disturbances in MDD patients, and provides preliminary support for the suggestion that these could be used to aid the identification of MDD patients in clinical practice.

Altered brain activity and cognitive impairment in patients with psoriasis

BACKGROUND

Patients with psoriasis may have cognitive impairment. However, there is limited information regarding intrinsic brain activity and cognitive function in patients with psoriasis.

OBJECTIVES

This study aim to assess alterations of intrinsic brain activity and its association with cognitive function in patients with psoriasis.

METHODS

A total of 222 patients with psoriasis aged 18-70 years and 144 age and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled into this study. All subjects underwent brain resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and neuropsychological testing. The rs-fMRI data were analysed for both intrinsic brain activity as indicated by amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC). Correlative analysis of brain activity with cognitive assessment was performed.

RESULTS

Compared with the HCs, patients with psoriasis had worse cognitive performance in the Trail Making Test, Digit Span Test and Stroop Color-Word Test (p < 0.05). Patients with psoriasis showed decreased ALFF in the left superior frontal gyrus, the left medial superior frontal gyrus and the right precuneus gyrus; as well as enhanced ALFF in the left paracentral lobule (pFWE  < 0.05). Significant correlations were noted between the altered ALFF in the four brain regions and cognitive assessment (p < 0.05). Moreover, patients with psoriasis had increased FC between the four brain regions with altered ALFF (seeds) and the left prefrontal gyrus, the left anterior cingulate gyrus, left superior parietal lobule and default mode network (DMN) regions such as the right precuneus gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, right angular gyrus and bilateral inferior temporal gyrus (pFWE  < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with psoriasis had altered brain activity and connectivity in the key brain areas within the DMN-prefrontal circuit. These brain changes may be the underlying neural correlates for cognitive functioning in patients with psoriasis.

Abnormal characteristic static and dynamic functional network connectivity in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

AIMS

Idiopathic Normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by gait disturbance, dementia, and urinary dysfunction. The neural network mechanisms underlying this phenomenon is currently unknown.

METHODS

To investigate the resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) abnormalities of iNPH-related brain connectivity from static and dynamic perspectives and the correlation of these abnormalities with clinical symptoms before and 3-month after shunt. We investigated both static and dynamic functional network connectivity (sFNC and dFNC, respectively) in 33 iNPH patients and 23 healthy controls (HCs).

RESULTS

The sFNC and dFNC of networks were generally decreased in iNPH patients. The reduction in sFNC within the default mode network (DMN) and between the somatomotor network (SMN) and visual network (VN) were related to symptoms. The temporal properties of dFNC and its temporal variability in state-4 were sensitive to the identification of iNPH and were correlated with symptoms. The temporal variability in the dorsal attention network (DAN) increased, and the average instantaneous FC was altered among networks in iNPH. These features were partially associated with clinical symptoms.

CONCLUSION

The dFNC may be a more sensitive biomarker for altered network function in iNPH, providing us with extra information on the mechanisms of iNPH.

Abnormal stability of spontaneous neuronal activity as a predictor of diagnosis conversion from major depressive disorder to bipolar disorder

OBJECTIVE

Bipolar disorder (BD) is often misdiagnosed as major depressive disorder (MDD) in the early stage, which may lead to inappropriate treatment. This study aimed to characterize the alterations of spontaneous neuronal activity in patients with depressive episodes whose diagnosis transferred from MDD to BD.

METHODS

532 patients with MDD and 132 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited over 10 years. During the follow-up period, 75 participants with MDD transferred to BD (tBD), and 157 participants remained with the diagnosis of unipolar depression (UD). After excluding participants with poor image quality and excessive head movement, 68 participants with the diagnosis of tBD, 150 participants with the diagnosis of UD, and 130 HCs were finally included in the analysis. The dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dALFF) of spontaneous neuronal activity was evaluated in tBD, UD and HC using functional magnetic resonance imaging at study inclusion. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of the conversion prediction from MDD to BD based on dALFF.

RESULTS

Compared to HC, tBD exhibited elevated dALFF at left premotor cortex (PMC_L), right lateral temporal cortex (LTC_R) and right early auditory cortex (EAC_R), and UD showed reduced dALFF at PMC_L, left paracentral lobule (PCL_L), bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), right orbital frontal cortex (OFC_R), right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC_R), right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC_R) and elevated dALFF at LTC_R. Furthermore, tBD exhibited elevated dALFF at PMC_L, PCL_L, bilateral mPFC, bilateral OFC, DLPFC_R, PCC_R and LTC_R than UD. In addition, ROC analysis based on dALFF in differential areas obtained an area under the curve (AUC) of 72.7%.

CONCLUSIONS

The study demonstrated the temporal dynamic abnormalities of tBD and UD in the critical regions of the somatomotor network (SMN), default mode network (DMN), and central executive network (CEN). The differential abnormal patterns of temporal dynamics between the two diseases have the potential to predict the diagnosis transition from MDD to BD.

Dynamic analysis of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in children with growth hormone deficiency

OBJECTIVE

Growth hormone (GH) affects brain activities and promotes growth and development. GH is a peptide hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland and is tied to behavior and cognitive function. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is the most common type of pathological short stature in children. Existing studies provide evidence that GHD may impact functional brain activities. The aim of this study was to investigate dynamic local brain activity in GHD children.

METHOD

In this study, we combined amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and sliding-window techniques to examine the local brain activity of children with GHD. The resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from 26 children with GHD and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC).

RESULT

Our results showed significant abnormal temporal variability of dynamic ALFF in widespread regions in children with GHD, primarily in the frontal gyrus, temporal gyrus, and parietal lobule.

CONCLUSION

The dALFF can capture dynamic changes in brain spontaneous activity, which are related to behavior and cognition. Based on this dynamic local brain activity, the results of this study provide a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanism in children with GHD.

Altered dynamic functional and effective connectivity in drug-naive children with Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a developmental neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary tics, the neurological basis of which remains unclear. Although traditional resting-state MRI (rfMRI) studies have identified abnormal static functional connectivity (FC) in patients with TS, dynamic FC (dFC) remains relatively unexplored. The rfMRI data of 54 children with TS and 46 typically developing children (TDC) were analyzed using group independent component analysis to obtain independent components (ICs), and a sliding-window approach to generate dFC matrices. All dFC matrices were clustered into two reoccurring states, the state transition metrics were obtained. We conducted Granger causality and nodal topological analyses to further investigate the brain regions that may play the most important roles in driving whole-brain switching between different states. We found that children with TS spent more time in state 2 (PFDR < 0.001), a state characterized by strong connectivity between ICs, and switched more quickly between states (PFDR = 0.025) than TDC. The default mode network (DMN) may play an important role in abnormal state transitions because the FC that changed the most between the two states was between the DMN and other networks. Additionally, the DMN had increased degree centrality, efficiency and altered causal influence on other networks. Certain alterations related to executive function (r = -0.309, P < 0.05) and tic symptom ratings (r = 0.282; 0.413, P < 0.05) may represent important aspects of the pathophysiology of TS. These findings facilitate our understanding of the neural basis for the clinical presentation of TS.

Shared and malignancy-specific functional plasticity of dynamic brain properties for patients with left frontal glioma

The time-varying brain activity may parallel the disease progression of cerebral glioma. Assessment of brain dynamics would better characterize the pathological profile of glioma and the relevant functional remodeling. This study aims to investigate the dynamic properties of functional networks based on sliding-window approach for patients with left frontal glioma. The generalized functional plasticity due to glioma was characterized by reduced dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation of somatosensory networks, reduced dynamic functional connectivity between homotopic regions mainly involving dorsal attention network and subcortical nuclei, and enhanced subcortical dynamic functional connectivity. Malignancy-specific functional remodeling featured a chaotic modification of dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and dynamic functional connectivity for low-grade gliomas, and attenuated dynamic functional connectivity of the intrahemispheric cortico-subcortical connections and reduced dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation of the bilateral caudate for high-grade gliomas. Network dynamic activity was clustered into four distinct configuration states. The occurrence and dwell time of the weakly connected state were reduced in patients' brains. Support vector machine model combined with predictive dynamic features achieved an averaged accuracy of 87.9% in distinguishing low- and high-grade gliomas. In conclusion, dynamic network properties are highly predictive of the malignant grade of gliomas, thus could serve as new biomarkers for disease characterization.

Cognitive and Psychiatric Relevance of Dynamic Functional Connectivity States in a Large (N>10,000) Children Population

Children's brains dynamically adapt to the stimuli from the internal state and the external environment, allowing for changes in cognitive and mental behavior. In this work, we performed a large-scale analysis of dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) in children aged 9 ~ 11 years, investigating how brain dynamics relate to cognitive performance and mental health at an early age. A hybrid independent component analysis framework was applied to the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) data containing 10,988 children. We combined a sliding-window approach with k-means clustering to identify five brain states with distinct DFC patterns. Interestingly, the occurrence of a strongly connected state was negatively correlated with cognitive performance and positively correlated with dimensional psychopathology in children. Meanwhile, opposite relationships were observed for a sparsely connected state. The composite cognitive score and the ADHD score were the most significantly correlated with the DFC states. The mediation analysis further showed that attention problems mediated the effect of DFC states on cognitive performance. This investigation unveils the neurological underpinnings of DFC states, which suggests that tracking the transient dynamic connectivity may help to characterize cognitive and mental problems in children and guide people to provide early intervention to buffer adverse influences.

Dynamics and concordance alterations of regional brain function indices in vestibular migraine: a resting-state fMRI study

BACKGROUND

Prior MRI studies on vestibular migraine (VM) have revealed abnormalities in static regional intrinsic brain activity (iBA) and dynamic functional connectivity between brain regions or networks. However, the temporal variation and concordance of regional iBA measures remain to be explored.

METHODS

57 VM patients during the interictal period were compared to 88 healthy controls (HC) in this resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. The dynamics and concordance of regional iBA indices, including amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo), were examined by utilizing sliding time-window analysis. Partial correlation analyses were performed between clinical parameters and resting-state fMRI indices in brain areas showing significant group differences.

RESULTS

The VM group showed increased ALFF and ReHo dynamics, as well as increased temporal concordance between ALFF and ReHo in the bilateral paracentral lobule and supplementary motor area relative to the HC group. We also found decreased ReHo dynamics in the right temporal pole, and decreased ALFF dynamics in the right cerebellum posterior lobe, bilateral angular gyrus and middle occipital gyrus (MOG) in the VM group compared with the HC group. Moreover, a positive correlation was observed between ALFF dynamics in the left MOG and vertigo disease duration across all VM patients.

CONCLUSION

Temporal dynamics and concordance of regional iBA indices were altered in the motor cortex, cerebellum, occipital and temporoparietal cortex, which may contribute to disrupted multisensory processing and vestibular control in patients with VM. ALFF dynamics in the left MOG may be useful biomarker for evaluating vertigo burden in this disorder.

Resting-state cortico-limbic functional connectivity pattern in panic disorder: Relationships with emotion regulation strategy use and symptom severity

Cognitive reappraisal is an effective emotion regulation strategy involving prefrontal cortex (PFC) control of the amygdala. Its aberrant functioning is closely associated with panic disorder (PD). However, the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the PFC, implicated in cognitive reappraisal, and the amygdala in PD has not been studied. Thus, this study aims to investigate the rsFC patterns and their association with cognitive reappraisal and PD. This study involved 51 participants, including 26 untreated patients with PD and 25 healthy controls (HC). We evaluated the habit of cognitive reappraisal assessment and the severity of PD using neuropsychological and clinical measures. Resting-state fMRI was utilized to evaluate the rsFC pattern between the PFC, engaged in cognitive reappraisal, and the amygdala. Mediation analysis was performed to explore the role of this rsFC in the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and PD severity. PD patients showed reduced rsFC between the PFC and the amygdala compared to HC. This weakened rsFC was associated with the severity of PD symptoms. Moreover, cognitive reappraisal was negatively correlated with PD severity, and mediation analysis indicated that the rsFC of the PFC-amygdala played a mediating role in this association. Abnormal PFC-amygdala rsFC may play a pivotal role in PD development and/or manifestation and mediate the association between cognitive reappraisal and PD severity, potentially serving as a clinical indicator for monitoring and intervention.

Dynamic functional connectivity in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: A review of the evidence and associations with psychopathological features

Alterations of functional network connectivity have been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). Recent studies also suggest that the temporal dynamics of functional connectivity (dFC) can be altered in these disorders. Here, we summarized the existing literature on dFC in SCZ and BD, and their association with psychopathological and cognitive features. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus for studies investigating dFC in SCZ and BD and identified 77 studies. Our findings support a general model of dysconnectivity of dFC in SCZ, whereas a heterogeneous picture arose in BD. Although dFC alterations are more severe and widespread in SCZ compared to BD, dysfunctions of a triple network system underlying goal-directed behavior and sensory-motor networks were present in both disorders. Furthermore, in SCZ, positive and negative symptoms were associated with abnormal dFC. Implications for understanding the pathophysiology of disorders, the role of neurotransmitters, and treatments on dFC are discussed. The lack of standards for dFC metrics, replication studies, and the use of small samples represent major limitations for the field.

Structural and Functional Brain Patterns Predict Formal Thought Disorder's Severity and Its Persistence in Recent-Onset Psychosis: Results From the PRONIA Study

BACKGROUND

Formal thought disorder (FThD) is a core feature of psychosis, and its severity and long-term persistence relates to poor clinical outcomes. However, advances in developing early recognition and management tools for FThD are hindered by a lack of insight into the brain-level predictors of FThD states and progression at the individual level.

METHODS

Two hundred thirty-three individuals with recent-onset psychosis were drawn from the multisite European Prognostic Tools for Early Psychosis Management study. Support vector machine classifiers were trained within a cross-validation framework to separate two FThD symptom-based subgroups (high vs. low FThD severity), using cross-sectional whole-brain multiband fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, gray matter volume and white matter volume data. Moreover, we trained machine learning models on these neuroimaging readouts to predict the persistence of high FThD subgroup membership from baseline to 1-year follow-up.

RESULTS

Cross-sectionally, multivariate patterns of gray matter volume within the salience, dorsal attention, visual, and ventral attention networks separated the FThD severity subgroups (balanced accuracy [BAC] = 60.8%). Longitudinally, distributed activations/deactivations within all fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation sub-bands (BACslow-5 = 73.2%, BACslow-4 = 72.9%, BACslow-3 = 68.0%), gray matter volume patterns overlapping with the cross-sectional ones (BAC = 62.7%), and smaller frontal white matter volume (BAC = 73.1%) predicted the persistence of high FThD severity from baseline to follow-up, with a combined multimodal balanced accuracy of BAC = 77%.

CONCLUSIONS

We report the first evidence of brain structural and functional patterns predictive of FThD severity and persistence in early psychosis. These findings open up avenues for the development of neuroimaging-based diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment options for the early recognition and management of FThD and associated poor outcomes.

Association of dopamine-based genetic risk score with dynamic low-frequency fluctuations in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia

Alterations in dynamic intrinsic brain activity and signaling of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, have been independently detected in schizophrenia patients. Yet, it remains unclear whether the dopamine genetic risk variants have association with brain intrinsic activity. We aimed to investigate the schizophrenia-specific dynamic amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (dALFF) altered pattern, and its association with dopamine genetic risk score in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia (FES). Fifty-two FES and 51 healthy controls were included. A sliding-window method based on the dALFF was adopted to estimate the dynamic alterations in intrinsic brain activity. Subjects were genotyped, and a genetic risk score (GRS), which combined the additive effects of ten risk genotypes from five dopamine-related genes, was calculated. We used the voxel-wise correlation analysis to explore the association of dopamine-GRS with dALFF. FES showed significantly increased dALFF left medial prefrontal cortex and significantly decreased dALFF in the right posterior cingulate cortex compared with healthy controls. Greater dopamine GRS in FES was associated with higher dALFF in the left middle frontal gyrus and left inferior parietal gyrus. Our findings indicate that cumulative dopamine genetic risk is associated with a known imaging phenotype for schizophrenia.

Altered dynamic functional connectivity of the thalamus subregions in patients with schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Previous neuroimaging studies indicated that patients with schizophrenia showed impaired thalamus and thalamo-cortical circuits. However, the dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) patterns of the thalamus remain unclear. In this study, we explored the dFC of the thalamus in SZ patients and whether clinical features are correlated with altered dFC.

METHODS

Forty-three patients with schizophrenia and 31 healthy controls underwent 3.0 T rs-fMRI. Based on the human Brainnetome atlas, the thalamus is divided into 8 subregions. Subsequently, we performed flexible least squares method to calculate the dFC of each thalamus subregions.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia exhibited increased dFC between the thalamus and cerebellar, visual-related cortex, sensorimotor-related cortex, and frontal lobe. In addition, we found that the dFC of the thalamus and the right fusiform gyrus was negatively associated with age of onset.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrated that the dFC of specific thalamus sub-regions is altered in patients with schizophrenia. Our results further suggested the dysconnectivity of thalamus plays an important role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Alteration of static and dynamic intrinsic brain activity induced by short-term spinal cord stimulation in postherpetic neuralgia patients

Introduction

Short-term spinal cord stimulation (stSCS) is an effective treatment for postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). However, how exactly stSCS affects time-dynamic intrinsic brain activity in PHN patients is not clear. The purpose of this study was to examine the static and dynamic variability of neural activity in PHN patients after stSCS.

Methods

In this study, 10 patients with PHN underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) at baseline and after SCS. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and dynamic ALFF (dALFF) were used to investigate the static and dynamic variability of neural activity in PHN patients after stSCS. We additionally examined the associations between clinical parameters and functional changes in the brain.

Results

There was a significant increase in dALFF in the left precuneus and right superior parietal gyrus, and a decrease in dALFF in the left inferior temporal gyrus, right gyrus rectus, left superior temporal gyrus, right orbitofrontal cortex, and left orbitofrontal cortex. There was significantly increased ALFF in the right inferior temporal gyrus, and decreased ALFF in the right lingual gyrus, left superior parietal gyrus, right superior parietal gyrus, and left precuneus. Furthermore, Pittsburgh sleep quality index scores were positively associated with dALFF changes in the left superior temporal gyrus and left orbitofrontal cortex. Hospital anxiety and depression scale scores and continuous pain scores exhibited significant negative correlation with dALFF changes in the right superior parietal gyrus.

Conclusion

This study indicated that stSCS is able to cause dALFF changes in PHN patients, thus stSCS might alter brain functions to relieve pain, sleep, and mood symptoms. The findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of stSCS efficacy in the treatment of patients with PHN.

Shared and Disorder-Specific Alterations of Brain Temporal Dynamics in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia have distinct but also overlapping symptoms. Few studies have examined the shared and disorder-specific disturbances in dynamic brain function in the 2 disorders.

STUDY DESIGN

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 31 patients with OCD and 49 patients with schizophrenia, all untreated, and 45 healthy controls (HCs) were analyzed using spatial group independent component (IC) analysis. Time-varying degree centrality patterns across the whole brain were clustered into 3 reoccurring states, and state transition metrics were obtained. We further explored regional temporal variability of degree centrality for each IC across all time windows.

STUDY RESULTS

Patients with OCD and patients with schizophrenia both showed decreased occurrence of a state having the highest centrality in the sensorimotor and auditory networks. Additionally, patients with OCD and patients with schizophrenia both exhibited reduced dynamics of degree centrality in the superior frontal gyrus than controls, while dynamic degree centrality of the cerebellum was lower in patients with schizophrenia than with OCD and HCs. Altered dynamics of degree centrality nominally correlated with symptom severity in both patient groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides evidence of transdiagnostic and clinically relevant functional brain abnormalities across OCD and schizophrenia in neocortex, as well as functional dynamic alterations in the cerebellum specific to schizophrenia. These findings add to the recognition of overlap in neocortical alterations in the 2 disorders, and indicate that cerebellar alterations in schizophrenia may be specifically important in schizophrenia pathophysiology via impact on cerebellar thalamocortical circuitry.

Alterations in grey matter structure linked to frequency-specific cortico-subcortical connectivity in schizophrenia via multimodal data fusion

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex psychiatric disorder that is currently defined by symptomatic and behavioral, rather than biological, criteria. Neuroimaging is an appealing avenue for SZ biomarker development, as several neuroimaging-based studies comparing individuals with SZ to healthy controls (HC) have shown measurable group differences in brain structure, as well as functional brain alterations in both static and dynamic functional network connectivity (sFNC and dFNC, respectively). The recently proposed filter-banked connectivity (FBC) method extends the standard dFNC sliding-window approach to estimate FNC within an arbitrary number of distinct frequency bands. The initial implementation used a set of filters spanning the full connectivity spectral range, providing a unified approach to examine both sFNC and dFNC in a single analysis. Initial FBC results found that individuals with SZ spend more time in a less structured, more disconnected low-frequency (i.e., static) FNC state than HC, as well as preferential SZ occupancy in high-frequency connectivity states, suggesting a frequency-specific component underpinning the functional dysconnectivity observed in SZ. Building on these findings, we sought to link such frequency-specific patterns of FNC to covarying data-driven structural brain networks in the context of SZ. Specifically, we employ a multi-set canonical correlation analysis + joint independent components analysis (mCCA + jICA) data fusion framework to study the connection between grey matter volume (GMV) maps and FBC states across the full connectivity frequency spectrum. Our multimodal analysis identified two joint sources that captured co-varying patterns of frequency-specific functional connectivity and alterations in GMV with significant group differences in loading parameters between the SZ group and HC. The first joint source linked frequency-modulated connections between the subcortical and sensorimotor networks and GMV alterations in the frontal and temporal lobes, while the second joint source identified a relationship between low-frequency cerebellar-sensorimotor connectivity and structural changes in both the cerebellum and motor cortex. Together, these results show a strong connection between cortico-subcortical functional connectivity at both high and low frequencies and alterations in cortical GMV that may be relevant to the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of SZ.

Dual-functional network regulation underlies the central executive system in working memory

The frontoparietal network (FPN) and cingulo-opercular network (CON) may exert top-down regulation corresponding to the central executive system (CES) in working memory (WM); however, contributions and regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. We examined network interaction mechanisms underpinning the CES by depicting CON- and FPN-mediated whole-brain information flow in WM. We used datasets from participants performing verbal and spatial working memory tasks, divided into encoding, maintenance, and probe stages. We used general linear models to obtain task-activated CON and FPN nodes to define regions of interest (ROI); an online meta-analysis defined alternative ROIs for validation. We calculated whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) maps seeded by CON and FPN nodes at each stage using beta sequence analysis. We used Granger causality analysis to obtain the connectivity maps and assess task-level information flow patterns. For verbal working memory, the CON functionally connected positively and negatively to task-dependent and task-independent networks, respectively, at all stages. FPN FC patterns were similar only in the encoding and maintenance stages. The CON elicited stronger task-level outputs. Main effects were: stable CON→FPN, CON→DMN, CON→visual areas, FPN→visual areas, and phonological areas→FPN. The CON and FPN both up-regulated task-dependent and down-regulated task-independent networks during encoding and probing. Task-level output was slightly stronger for the CON. CON→FPN, CON→DMN, visual areas→CON, and visual areas→FPN showed consistent effects. The CON and FPN might together underlie the CES's neural basis and achieve top-down regulation through information interaction with other large-scale functional networks, and the CON may be a higher-level regulatory core in WM.

Evaluation of boundaries between mood and psychosis disorder using dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) via deep learning classification

The validity and reliability of diagnoses in psychiatry is a challenging topic in mental health. The current mental health categorization is based primarily on symptoms and clinical course and is not biologically validated. Among multiple ongoing efforts, neurological observations alongside clinical evaluations are considered to be potential solutions to address diagnostic problems. The Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) has published multiple papers attempting to reclassify psychotic illnesses based on biological rather than symptomatic measures. However, the effort to investigate the relationship between this new categorization approach and other neuroimaging techniques, including resting-state fMRI data, is still limited. This study focused on investigating the relationship between different psychotic disorders categorization methods and resting-state fMRI-based measures called dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) approaches. We applied our method to 613 subjects, including individuals with psychosis and healthy controls, which were classified using both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and the B-SNIP biomarker-based (Biotype) approach. Statistical group differences and cross-validated classifiers were performed within each framework to assess how different categories. Results highlight interesting differences in occupancy in both DSM-IV and Biotype categorizations compared to healthy individuals, which are distributed across specific transient connectivity states. Biotypes tended to show less distinctiveness in occupancy level and included fewer cellwise differences. Classification accuracy obtained by DSM-IV and Biotype categories were both well above chance. Results provided new insights and highlighted the benefits of both DSM-IV and biology-based categories while also emphasizing the importance of future work in this direction, including employing further data types.

Frequency-dependent and time-variant alterations of neural activity in post-stroke depression: A resting-state fMRI study

BACKGROUND

Post-stroke depression (PSD) is one of the most frequent psychiatric disorders after stroke. However, the underlying brain mechanism of PSD remains unclarified. Using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) approach, we aimed to investigate the abnormalities of neural activity in PSD patients, and further explored the frequency and time properties of ALFF changes in PSD.

METHODS

Resting-state fMRI data and clinical data were collected from 39 PSD patients (PSD), 82 S patients without depression (Stroke), and 74 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). ALFF across three frequency bands (ALFF-Classic: 0.01-0.08 Hz; ALFF-Slow4: 0.027-0.073 Hz; ALFF-Slow5: 0.01-0.027 Hz) and dynamic ALFF (dALFF) were computed and compared among three groups. Ridge regression analyses and spearman's correlation analyses were further applied to explore the relationship between PSD-specific alterations and depression severity in PSD.

RESULTS

We found that PSD-specific alterations of ALFF were frequency-dependent and time-variant. Specially, compared to both Stroke and HC groups, PSD exhibited increased ALFF in the contralesional dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and insula in all three frequency bands. Increased ALFF in ipsilesional DLPFC were observed in both slow-4 and classic frequency bands which were positively correlated with depression scales in PSD, while increased ALFF in the bilateral hippocampus and contralesional rolandic operculum were only found in slow-5 frequency band. These PSD-specific alterations in different frequency bands could predict depression severity. Moreover, decreased dALFF in contralesional superior temporal gyrus were observed in PSD group.

LIMITATIONS

Longitudinal studies are required to explore the alterations of ALFF in PSD as the disease progress.

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency-dependent and time-variant properties of ALFF could reflect the PSD-specific alterations in complementary ways, which may assist to elucidate underlying neural mechanisms and be helpful for early diagnosis and interventions for the disease.

Eight-week antidepressant treatment changes intrinsic functional brain topology in first-episode drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND

A recent study revealed disrupted topological organization of whole-brain networks in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD); however, these results were mostly driven by recurrent MDD patients, rather than first-episode drug-naïve (FEDN) patients. Furthermore, few longitudinal studies have explored the effects of antidepressant therapy on the topological organization of whole-brain networks.

METHODS

We collected clinical and neuroimaging data from 159 FEDN MDD patients and 152 normal controls (NCs). A total of 115 MDD patients completed an eight-week antidepressant treatment procedure. Topological features of brain networks were calculated using graph theory-based methods and compared between FEDN MDD patients and NCs, as well as before and after treatment.

RESULTS

Decreased global efficiency, local efficiency, small-worldness, and modularity were found in pretreatment FEDN MDD patients compared with NCs. Nodal degrees, betweenness, and efficiency decreased in several networks compared with NCs. After antidepressant treatment, the global efficiency increased, while the local efficiency, the clustering coefficient of the network, the path length, and the normalized characteristic path length decreased. Moreover, the reduction rate of the normalized characteristic path length was positively correlated with the reduction rate of retardation factor scores.

LIMITATIONS

The interaction effects of groups and time on the topological features were not explored because of absence of the eighth-week data of NC group.

CONCLUSIONS

The topological architecture of functional brain networks is disrupted in FEDN MDD patients. After antidepressant therapy, the global efficiency shifted toward recovery, but the local efficiency deteriorated, suggesting a correlation between recovery of retardation symptoms and global efficiency.

Dynamic alterations of spontaneous neural activity in post-stroke aphasia: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Background and purpose

The dynamic alterations in spontaneous neural activity of the brain during the acute phase of post-stroke aphasia (PSA) remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) was applied to explore abnormal temporal variability in local functional activity of the brain during acute PSA.

Materials and methods

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 26 patients with PSA and 25 healthy controls (HCs) were acquired. The sliding window method was used to assess dALFF, with the k-means clustering method used to identify dALFF states. The two-sample t-test was applied to compare differences in dALFF variability and state metrics between the PSA and HC groups.

Results

(1) In the PSA group, greater variance of dALFF in the cerebellar network (CBN) and left fronto-temporo-parietal network (FTPN) was observed. (2) Three dALFF states were identified among all subjects. States 1 and 2 were identified in the PSA patients, and the two dALFF states shared a similar proportion. Moreover, the number of transitions between the two dALFF states was higher in the patients compared with that in HCs.

Conclusion

The results of this study provide valuable insights into brain dysfunction that occurs during the acute phase (6.00 ± 3.52 days) of PSA. The observed increase in variability of local functional activities in CBN and left FTPN may be related to the spontaneous functional recovery of language during acute PSA, and it also suggests that cerebellum plays an important role in language.

Habenula functional connectivity variability increases with disease severity in individuals with major depression

BACKGROUND

Increasing evidence has suggested the significant relationships between major depressive disorder (MDD) and the neural abnormalities of the Habenula (Hb). Yet, previous research on the relationships between Hb and MDD mainly focuses on the static descriptions of their functional connectivity. However, recent work suggests that the connectivity patterns are indeed dynamic, though related analysis and interpretation remain scarce.

METHODS

Using seed-based resting-state fMRI, the static (sFC) and dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) between the Hb and whole-brain were calculated, including 51 clinical participants (MDDs) and 45 healthy controls (HCs). Association between the aberrant connectivity patterns and depressive symptomatology was also analyzed.

RESULTS

Compared with the HCs, MDDs exhibited increased sFC from the left Hb to the right inferior temporal gyrus and left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), while sFC to the right calcarine gyrus decreased. Notably, we observed that dFC between the left Hb and the right supplementary motor area, right postcentral gyrus (PoCG), left inferior frontal gyrus as well as left occipital gyrus was weak in MDDs. Furthermore, sFC between the Hb and SFG correlated positively with the measured attention-related cognitive deficits. Importantly, there was a positive correlation between dFC between the Hb and PoCG and depressive severity.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate that the anomalous neural circuitry of Hb may underpin impaired attention disengagement, emotional modulation and motor inhibition associated with depressive symptoms such as rumination disposition and psychomotor retardation. This may open new avenues for studying the neuropathology mechanisms and guiding new treatment strategies for MDD.

Changes in dynamic and static brain fluctuation distinguish minimal hepatic encephalopathy and cirrhosis patients and predict the severity of liver damage

Purpose

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is characterized by mild neuropsychological and neurophysiological alterations that are not detectable by routine clinical examination. Abnormal brain activity (in terms of the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) has been observed in MHE patients. However, little is known concerning temporal dynamics of intrinsic brain activity. The present study aimed to investigate the abnormal dynamics of brain activity (dynamic ALFF; dALFF) and static measures [static ALFF; (sALFF)] in MHE patients and to strive for a reliable imaging neuromarkers for distinguishing MHE patients from cirrhosis patients. In addition, the present study also investigated whether intrinsic brain activity predicted the severity of liver damage.

Methods

Thirty-four cirrhosis patients with MHE, 28 cirrhosis patients without MHE, and 33 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). dALFF was estimated by combining the ALFF method with the sliding-window method, in which temporal variability was quantized over the whole-scan timepoints and then compared among the three groups. Additionally, dALFF, sALFF and both two features were utilized as classification features in a support vector machine (SVM) to distinguish MHE patients from cirrhosis patients. The severity of liver damage was reflected by the Child–Pugh score. dALFF, sALFF and both two features were used to predict Child–Pugh scores in MHE patients using a general linear model.

Results

Compared with HCs, MHE patients showed significantly increased dALFF in the left inferior occipital gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus, and right insula; increased dALFF was also observed in the right posterior lobe of the cerebellum (CPL) and right thalamus. Compared with HCs, noMHE patients exhibited decreased dALFF in the right precuneus. In contrast, compared with noMHE patients, MHE patients showed increased dALFF in the right precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, and right superior occipital gyrus. Furthermore, the increased dALFF values in the left precuneus were positively associated with poor digit-symbol test (DST) scores (r = 0.356, p = 0.038); however, dALFF in the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) was negatively associated with the number connection test–A (NCT-A) scores (r = -0.784, p = 0.000). A significant positive correlation was found between dALFF in the left inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) and high blood ammonia levels (r = 0.424, p = 0.012). Notably, dALFF values yielded a higher classification accuracy than sALFF values in distinguishing MHE patients from cirrhosis patients. Importantly, the dALFF values predicted the Child–Pugh score (r = 0.140, p = 0.030), whereas sALFF values did not in the current dataset. Combining two features had high accuracy in classification in distinguishing MHE patients from cirrhotic patients and yielded prediction in the severity of liver damage.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that combining dALFF and sALFF features is a useful neuromarkers for distinguishing MHE patients from cirrhosis patients and highlights the important role of dALFF feature in predicting the severity of liver damage in MHE.

Vigilance associates with the low-dimensional structure of fMRI data

The human brain exhibits rich dynamics that reflect ongoing functional states. Patterns in fMRI data, detected in a data-driven manner, have uncovered recurring configurations that relate to individual and group differences in behavioral, cognitive, and clinical traits. However, resolving the neural and physiological processes that underlie such measurements is challenging, particularly without external measurements of brain state. A growing body of work points to underlying changes in vigilance as one driver of time-windowed fMRI connectivity states, calculated on the order of tens of seconds. Here we examine the degree to which the low-dimensional spatial structure of instantaneous fMRI activity is associated with vigilance levels, by testing whether vigilance-state detection can be carried out in an unsupervised manner based on individual BOLD time frames. To investigate this question, we first reduce the spatial dimensionality of fMRI data, and apply Gaussian Mixture Modeling to cluster the resulting low-dimensional data without any a priori vigilance information. Our analysis includes long-duration task and resting-state scans that are conducive to shifts in vigilance. We observe a close alignment between low-dimensional fMRI states (data-driven clusters) and measurements of vigilance derived from concurrent electroencephalography (EEG) and behavior. Whole-brain coactivation analysis revealed cortical anti-correlation patterns that resided primarily during higher behavioral- and EEG-defined levels of vigilance, while cortical activity was more often spatially uniform in states corresponding to lower vigilance. Overall, these findings indicate that vigilance states may be detected in the low-dimensional structure of fMRI data, even within individual time frames.

A method for capturing dynamic spectral coupling in resting fMRI reveals domain-specific patterns in schizophrenia

Introduction

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a powerful tool for assessing functional brain connectivity. Recent studies have focused on shorter-term connectivity and dynamics in the resting state. However, most of the prior work evaluates changes in time-series correlations. In this study, we propose a framework that focuses on time-resolved spectral coupling (assessed via the correlation between power spectra of the windowed time courses) among different brain circuits determined via independent component analysis (ICA).

Methods

Motivated by earlier work suggesting significant spectral differences in people with schizophrenia, we developed an approach to evaluate time-resolved spectral coupling (trSC). To do this, we first calculated the correlation between the power spectra of windowed time-courses pairs of brain components. Then, we subgrouped each correlation map into four subgroups based on the connectivity strength utilizing quartiles and clustering techniques. Lastly, we examined clinical group differences by regression analysis for each averaged count and average cluster size matrices in each quartile. We evaluated the method by applying it to resting-state data collected from 151 (114 males, 37 females) people with schizophrenia (SZ) and 163 (117 males, 46 females) healthy controls (HC).

Results

Our proposed approach enables us to observe the change of connectivity strength within each quartile for different subgroups. People with schizophrenia showed highly modularized and significant differences in multiple network domains, whereas males and females showed less modular differences. Both cell count and average cluster size analysis for subgroups indicate a higher connectivity rate in the fourth quartile for the visual network in the control group. This indicates increased trSC in visual networks in the controls. In other words, this shows that the visual networks in people with schizophrenia have less mutually consistent spectra. It is also the case that the visual networks are less spectrally correlated on short timescales with networks of all other functional domains.

Conclusions

The results of this study reveal significant differences in the degree to which spectral power profiles are coupled over time. Importantly, there are significant but distinct differences both between males and females and between people with schizophrenia and controls. We observed a more significant coupling rate in the visual network for the healthy controls and males in the upper quartile. Fluctuations over time are complex, and focusing on only time-resolved coupling among time-courses is likely to miss important information. Also, people with schizophrenia are known to have impairments in visual processing but the underlying reasons for the impairment are still unknown. Therefore, the trSC approach can be a useful tool to explore the reasons for the impairments.

Altered time-varying local spontaneous brain activity pattern in patients with high myopia: a dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations study

PURPOSE

To investigate the abnormal time-varying local spontaneous brain activity in patients with high myopia (HM) on the basis of the dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dALFF) approach.

METHODS

Age and gender matching were performed based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 86 HM patients and 87 healthy controls (HCs). Local spontaneous brain activities were evaluated using the time-varying dALFF method. Support vector machine combined with the radial basis function kernel was used for pattern classification analysis.

RESULTS

Inter-group comparison between HCs and HM patients has demonstrated that dALFF variability in the left inferior frontal gyrus (orbital part), left lingual gyrus, right anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri, and right calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex was decreased in HM patients, while increased in the left thalamus, left paracentral lobule, and left inferior parietal (except supramarginal and angular gyri). Pattern classification between HM patients and HCs displayed a classification accuracy of 85.5%.

CONCLUSION

In this study, the findings mentioned above have suggested the association between local brain activities of HM patients and abnormal variability in brain regions performing visual sensorimotor and attentional control functions. Several useful information has been provided to elucidate the mechanism-related alterations of the myopic nervous system. In addition, the significant role of abnormal dALFF variability has been highlighted to achieve an in-depth comprehension of the pathological alterations and neuroimaging mechanisms in the field of HM.

Dynamic local metrics changes in patients with toothache: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Objective

To study the dynamic changes of local metrics in patients with toothache (TA, Toothache) in the resting state, in order to further understand the changes of central neural mechanism in patients with dental pain and its effect on cognition and emotion.

Methods

Thirty patients with TA and thirty matched healthy (HC) control volunteers were recruited, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance (rs-MRI) scans were performed on all subjects, and data were analyzed to compare group differences in three dynamic local indices: dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHO), dynamic low-frequency fluctuation amplitude (dALFF) and dynamic fractional low-frequency fluctuation amplitude (dfALFF). In addition, the association between dynamic local metrics in different brain regions of TA patients and scores on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was investigated by Pearson correlation analysis.

Results

In this study, we found that The local metrics of TA patients changed with time Compared with the HC group, TA patients showed increased dReHo values in the left superior temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, precuneus, angular gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, postcentral gyrus and middle frontal gyrus, increased dALFF values in the right superior frontal gyrus, and increased dfALFF values in the right middle temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and right superior occipital gyrus (p < 0.01, cluster level P < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that dReHo values of left precuneus and left angular gyrus were positively correlated with VAS scores in TA group. dReHo value of right posterior central gyrus was positively correlated with HADS score (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

There are differences in the patterns of neural activity changes in resting-state brain areas of TA patients, and the brain areas that undergo abnormal changes are mainly pain processing brain areas, emotion processing brain areas and pain cognitive modulation brain areas, which help to reveal their underlying neuropathological mechanisms. In the hope of further understanding its effects on cognition and emotion.

Abnormal dynamics of resting-state functional activity and couplings in postpartum depression with and without anxiety

Postpartum depression (PPD) and PPD comorbid with anxiety (PPD-A) are highly prevalent and severe mental health problems in postnatal women. PPD and PPD-A share similar pathopsychological features, leading to ongoing debates regarding the diagnostic and neurobiological uniqueness. This paper aims to delineate common and disorder-specific neural underpinnings and potential treatment targets for PPD and PPD-A by characterizing functional dynamics with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in 138 participants (45 first-episode, treatment-naïve PPD; 31 PDD-A patients; and 62 healthy postnatal women [HPW]). PPD-A group showed specifically increased dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and increased dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) between the sgACC and superior temporal sulcus. PPD group exhibited specifically increased static FC (sFC) between the sgACC and ventral anterior insula. Common disrupted sFC between the sgACC and middle temporal gyrus was found in both PPD and PPD-A patients. Interestingly, dynamic changes in dFC between the sgACC and superior temporal gyrus could differentiate PPD, PPD-A, and HPW. Our study presents initial evidence on specifically abnormal functional dynamics of limbic, emotion regulation, and social cognition systems in patients with PDD and PPD-A, which may facilitate understanding neurophysiological mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment for PPD and PPD-A.

Recent advances in psychoradiology

Psychiatry, as a field, lacks objective markers for diagnosis, progression, treatment planning, and prognosis, in part due to difficulties studying the brain in vivo, and diagnoses are based on self-reported symptoms and observation of patient behavior and cognition. Rapid advances in brain imaging techniques allow clinical investigators to noninvasively quantify brain features at the structural, functional, and molecular levels. Psychoradiology is an emerging discipline at the intersection of psychiatry and radiology. Psychoradiology applies medical imaging technologies to psychiatry and promises not only to improve insight into structural and functional brain abnormalities in patients with psychiatric disorders but also to have potential clinical utility. We searched for representative studies related to recent advances in psychoradiology through May 1, 2022, and conducted a selective review of 165 references, including 75 research articles. We summarize the novel dynamic imaging processing methods to model brain networks and present imaging genetics studies that reveal the relationship between various neuroimaging endophenotypes and genetic markers in psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, we survey recent advances in psychoradiology, with a focus on future psychiatric diagnostic approaches with dimensional analysis and a shift from group-level to individualized analysis. Finally, we examine the application of machine learning in psychoradiology studies and the potential of a novel option for brain stimulation treatment based on psychoradiological findings in precision medicine. Here, we provide a summary of recent advances in psychoradiology research, and we hope this review will help guide the practice of psychoradiology in the scientific and clinical fields.

Dynamic changes in fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in patients with chronic insomnia

BACKGROUND

Previous neuroimaging studies have mostly focused on changes in static functional connectivity in patients with chronic insomnia (CI) . Features of dynamic brain activity in patients with CI have rarely been described in detail. The present study investigated changes in dynamic intrinsic brain activity in patients with CI by dynamic fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dfALFF) analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 30 patients with CI and 27 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. We compared dfALFF between these two groups, and examined the correlation between changes in dfALFF and clinical symptoms of CI. Multivariate pattern analysis was performed to differentiate patients with CI from HCs.

RESULTS

Compared with HC subjects, patients with CI showed significantly increased dfALFF in the left insula, right superior temporal gyrus, left parahippocampal gyrus, right amygdala, and bilateral posterior lobes of the cerebellum. Moreover, dfALFF values in the left insula and left parahippocampal gyrus showed a positive correlation with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores. A logistic regression model was constructed that had 96.7% sensitivity, 80.0% specificity, and 83.0% overall accuracy for distinguishing patients with CI from HCs.

CONCLUSION

Dynamic local brain activity showed increased instability in patients with CI. The variability in dfALFF in the limbic system and brain areas related to sleep/wakefulness was associated with insomnia symptoms. These findings may provide insight into the neuropathologic basis of CI.

Higher reliability and validity of Wavelet-ALFF of resting-state fMRI: From multicenter database and application to rTMS modulation

Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) has been widely used for localization of abnormal activity at the single-voxel level in resting-state fMRI (RS-fMRI) studies. However, previous ALFF studies were based on fast Fourier transform (FFT-ALFF). Our recent study found that ALFF based on wavelet transform (Wavelet-ALFF) showed better sensitivity and reproducibility than FFT-ALFF. The current study aimed to test the reliability and validity of Wavelet-ALFF, and apply Wavelet-ALFF to investigate the modulation effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The reliability and validity were assessed on multicenter RS-fMRI datasets under eyes closed (EC) and eyes open (EO) conditions (248 healthy participants in total). We then detected the sensitivity of Wavelet-ALFF using a rTMS modulation dataset (24 healthy participants). For each dataset, Wavelet-ALFF based on five mother wavelets (i.e., db2, bior4.4, morl, meyr and sym3) and FFT-ALFF were calculated in the conventional band and five frequency sub-bands. The results showed that the reliability of both inter-scanner and intra-scanner was higher with Wavelet-ALFF than with FFT-ALFF across multiple frequency bands, especially db2-ALFF in the higher frequency band slow-2 (0.1992-0.25 Hz). In terms of validity, the multicenter ECEO datasets showed that the effect sizes of Wavelet-ALFF with all mother wavelets (especially for db2-ALFF) were larger than those of FFT-ALFF across multiple frequency bands. Furthermore, Wavelet-ALFF detected a larger modulation effect than FFT-ALFF. Collectively, Wavelet db2-ALFF showed the best reliability and validity, suggesting that db2-ALFF may offer a powerful metric for inspecting regional spontaneous brain activities in future studies.

Abnormal dynamic functional network connectivity in male obstructive sleep apnea with mild cognitive impairment: A data-driven functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamic functional network connectivity (FNC) and its relationship with cognitive function in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients from normal cognition (OSA-NC) to mild cognitive impairment (OSA-MCI).

Materials and methods

Eighty-two male OSA patients and 48 male healthy controls (HC) were included in this study. OSA patients were classified to OSA-MCI (n = 41) and OSA-NC (n = 41) based on cognitive assessments. The independent component analysis was used to determine resting-state functional networks. Then, a sliding-window approach was used to construct the dynamic FNC, and differences in temporal properties of dynamic FNC and functional connectivity strength were compared between OSA patients and the HC. Furthermore, the relationship between temporal properties and clinical assessments were analyzed in OSA patients.

Results

Two different connectivity states were identified, namely, State I with stronger connectivity and lower frequency, and State II with lower connectivity and relatively higher frequency. Compared to HC, OSA patients had a longer mean dwell time and higher fractional window in stronger connectivity State I, and opposite result were found in State II, which was mainly reflected in OSA-MCI patients. The number of transitions was an increasing trend and positively correlated with cognitive assessment in OSA-MCI patients. Compared with HC, OSA patients showed extensive abnormal functional connectivity in stronger connected State I and less reduced functional connectivity in lower connected State II, which were mainly located in the salience network, default mode network, and executive control network.

Conclusion

Our study found that OSA patients showed abnormal dynamic FNC properties, which was a continuous trend from HC, and OSA-NC to OSA-MCI, and OSA patients showed abnormal dynamic functional connectivity strength. The number of transformations was associated with cognitive impairment in OSA-MCI patients, which may provide new insights into the neural mechanisms in OSA patients.

Electroconvulsive therapy changes temporal dynamics of intrinsic brain activity in depressed patients

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been demonstrated to be effective in treating depressed patients. Previous neuroimaging studies have focused mainly on alterations in static brain activity and connectivity to study the effects of ECT in depressed patients. However, it remains unclear whether the temporal dynamics of brain activity are associated with mechanisms of ECT in depressed patients. We measured the dynamics of spontaneous brain activity using dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) in healthy controls (n = 40) and patients diagnosed with unipolar depression (UD, n = 36) or bipolar disorder (BD, n = 9) before and after ECT. Furthermore, the temporal variability of intrinsic brain activity (iBA) was quantified as the variance of dALFF across sliding window. In addition, correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationships among dALFF, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function in depressed patients. We lack second resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data for healthy controls. After ECT, patients showed decreased brain dynamics (less temporal variability) in the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the right precuneus, whereas they showed increased brain dynamics in the bilateral superior medial frontal cortex (mSFC). No significant correlation was found between the dALFF and clinical variables in depressed patients. Our findings suggest that right dACC, right precuneus, and bilateral mSFC play an important role in response to ECT depressed patients from the perspective of dynamic local brain activity, indicating that the dALFF variability may be useful in further understanding the mechanisms of ECT's antidepressant effects.

Altered frequency-specific/universal amplitude characteristics of spontaneous brain oscillations in patients with bipolar disorder

The human brain is a dynamic system with intrinsic oscillations in spontaneous neural activity. Whether the dynamic characteristics of these spontaneous oscillations are differentially altered across different frequency bands in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) remains unclear. This study recruited 65 patients with BD and 85 healthy controls (HCs). The entire frequency range of resting-state fMRI data was decomposed into four frequency intervals. Two-way repeated-measures ANCOVA was employed to detect frequency-specific/universal alterations in the dynamic oscillation amplitude in BD. The patients were then divided into two subgroups according to their mood states to explore whether these alterations were independent of their mood states. Finally, other window sizes, step sizes, and window types were tested to replicate all analyses. Frequency-specific abnormality of the dynamic oscillation amplitude was detected within the posterior medial parietal cortex (centered at the precuneus extending to the posterior cingulate cortex). This specific profile indicates decreased amplitudes in the lower frequency bands (slow-5/4) and no amplitude changes in the higher frequency bands (slow-3/2) compared with HCs. Frequency-universal abnormalities of the dynamic oscillation amplitude were also detectable, indicating increased amplitudes in the thalamus and left cerebellum anterior lobe but decreased amplitudes in the medial superior frontal gyrus. These alterations were independent of the patients' mood states and replicable across multiple analytic and parametric settings. In short, frequency-specific/universal amplitude characteristics of spontaneous oscillations were observed in patients with BD. These abnormal characteristics have important implications for specific functional changes in BD from multiple frequency and dynamic perspectives.

Altered dynamic brain activity and its association with memory decline after night shift-related sleep deprivation in nurses

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To investigate, for the first time, aberrant time-varying local brain activity in nurses following night shift-related sleep deprivation (SD) and its association with memory decline.

BACKGROUND

Prior studies have elucidated alterations in static local brain activity resulting from SD in the occupations outside medical profession.

DESIGN

A longitudinal study followed the STROBE recommendations.

METHODS

Twenty female nurses underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and memory function assessment (by Complex Figure Test (CFT) and the California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition (CVLT-II)) twice, once in a rested wakefulness (RW) state and another after SD. By combining the sliding-window approach and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) analysis, the dynamic ALFF (dALFF) variability was calculated to reflect the characteristics of dynamic local brain activity.

RESULTS

Poor performance on the CFT and CVLT-II was observed in nurses with night shift-related SD. Reduced dALFF variability was found in a set of cognition-related brain regions (including the medial/middle/superior frontal gyrus, anterior/posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, angular gyrus, orbitofrontal and subgenual areas, and posterior cerebellum lobe), while increased dALFF variability was observed in the somatosensory-related, visual and auditory regions. SD-related dALFF variability alterations correlated with changes in subjects' performance on the CFT and CVLT-II.

CONCLUSIONS

Night shift-related SD disturbed dynamic brain activity in high cognitive regions and induced compensatory reactions in primary perceptual cortex. Identifying dALFF variability abnormalities may broaden our understanding of neural substrates underlying SD-related cognitive alterations, especially memory dysfunction.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Night shift-related SD is as an important occupational hazard affecting brain function in nurses. The effective countermeasure addressing the adverse outcomes of SD should be advocated for nurses.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Patients or public were not involved in the design and implementation of the study or the analysis and interpretation of the data.

Dynamic spectral signatures of mirror movements in the sensorimotor functional connectivity network of patients with Kallmann syndrome

In Kallmann syndrome (KS), the peculiar phenomenon of bimanual synkinesis or mirror movement (MM) has been associated with a spectral shift, from lower to higher frequencies, of the resting-state fMRI signal of the large-scale sensorimotor brain network (SMN). To possibly determine whether a similar frequency specificity exists across different functional connectivity SMN states, and to capture spontaneous transitions between them, we investigated the dynamic spectral changes of the SMN functional connectivity in KS patients with and without MM symptom. Brain MRI data were acquired at 3 Tesla in 39 KS patients (32 without MM, KSMM-, seven with MM, KSMM+) and 26 age- and sex-matched healthy control (HC) individuals. The imaging protocol included 20-min rs-fMRI scans enabling detailed spectro-temporal analyses of large-scale functional connectivity brain networks. Group independent component analysis was used to extract the SMN. A sliding window approach was used to extract the dynamic spectral power of the SMN functional connectivity within the canonical physiological frequency range of slow rs-fMRI signal fluctuations (0.01–0.25 Hz). K-means clustering was used to determine (and count) the most recurrent dynamic states of the SMN and detect the number of transitions between them. Two most recurrent states were identified, for which the spectral power peaked at a relatively lower (state 1) and higher (state 2) frequency. Compared to KS patients without MM and HC subjects, the SMN of KS patients with MM displayed significantly larger spectral power changes in the slow 3 canonical sub-band (0.073–0.198 Hz) and significantly fewer transitions between state 1 (less recurrent) and state 2 (more recurrent). These findings demonstrate that the presence of MM in KS patients is associated with reduced spontaneous transitions of the SMN between dynamic functional connectivity states and a higher recurrence and an increased spectral power change of the high-frequency state. These results provide novel information about the large-scale brain functional dynamics that could help to understand the pathologic mechanisms of bimanual synkinesis in KS syndrome and, potentially, other neurological disorders where MM may also occur.

Dynamic changes of amplitude of low-frequency in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with cognitive impairment

Background

Cognitive dysfunction (CI) is frequently reported in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but the identification and assessment of SLE-related CI remain challenging. Previous studies have focused on changes in static brain activity, and no studies have investigated the characteristics of dynamic brain activity in SLE patients with CI.

Objects

We calculated the dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) by combining the ALFF with a sliding window method to assess the temporal variability of brain functional activity in SLE patients with and without CI.

Methods

Thirty-eight SLE with CI, thirty-eight SLE without CI, and thirty-eight healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. By comparing static ALFF (sALFF) and dALFF among the three groups, changes in brain activity intensity and its temporal variability were assessed in patients with SLE with or without CI. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated between the brain function indicator and Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) scores of SLE with CI.

Results

Subjects among the three groups exhibited significant sALFF differences in the right parahippocampal gyrus, left caudate nucleus, right putamen, and left cuneus. Compared to the SLE without CI, the right parahippocampal gyrus exhibited higher sALFF in the SLE with CI group. Compared to the HCs, the left caudate nucleus exhibited increased sALFF in the SLE with CI group. Participants in the three groups exhibited significant dALFF variability in the right parahippocampal gyrus, right lingual gyrus, and bilateral inferior occipital gyrus. Compared to the HCs, the right lingual gyrus exhibited reduced dALFF in the SLE without CI group. Compared to the HCs, the right parahippocampal gyrus exhibited increased dALFF, left calcarine fissure, and the surrounding cortex exhibited reduced dALFF in the SLE with CI group. There was no significant correlation between the MMSE score, sALFF, and dALFF in the SLE with CI group.

Conclusion

SLE patients with CI have abnormal brain activity intensity and stability. By analyzing the dynamics of intrinsic brain activity, it provides a new idea for evaluating SLE-related CI. However, more research and validation with multiple metrics are needed to determine the link between the severity of cognitive impairment (CI) and brain activity in patients with SLE.

Altered dynamic spontaneous neural activity in minimal hepatic encephalopathy

Background and aims:

Abnormal regional neural activity has been identified by the analysis of the static amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in the setting of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). Brain activity is highly dynamic. This work sought to evaluate the temporal variability of ALFF to reveal MHE-related alterations in the dynamics of spontaneous neural activity.

Methods

A total of 29 healthy controls and 49 patients with cirrhosis [including 20 patients with MHE and 29 patients without MHE (NHE)] who underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) examination were enrolled in this investigation. Utilizing a sliding-window approach, we calculated the dynamic ALFF (dALFF) variability to reflect the temporal dynamics of regional neural activity. An analysis of the correlation between dALFF variability and PHES was performed, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to determine the potential of the dALFF variability index in identifying MHE was completed.

Results

The dALFF variability in the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus progressively decreased from NHE to MHE group. In cirrhotic patients, the value of dALFF variability in the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus was positively correlated with their neurocognitive performance (r = 0.383 and P = 0.007). The index of dALFF variability in the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus could be used to distinguish NHE and MHE patients, with moderate power (area under the ROC curve = 0.712 and P = 0.012).

Conclusion

Our findings highlight the existence of aberrant dynamic brain function in MHE, which could underlie the neural basis of cognitive impairments and could be associated with the development of the disease. Analyzing dALFF could facilitate new biomarker identification for MHE.

Static and temporal dynamic changes of intrinsic brain activity in pediatric and adults OCD

Epidemiological and clinical age differences in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been reported in clinical symptoms and morphometry changes; however, age differences in amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and the relationship between ALFF imaging and clinical symptoms has not been thoroughly studied in OCD. Age may be an important feature associated with distinct subtypes of OCD. To examine the effect of age on OCD, the current study enrolled 92 OCD patients (32 pediatrics and 60 adults) and matched HCs (33 pediatrics and 84 adults), undergoing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The spontaneous brain activity was measured by static and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) followed by two-way ANOVA. In pediatric OCD patients versus adult patients, we observed a significantly higher ALFF in the default mode network (DMN), including posterior cingulate, precuneus and superior frontal gyrus, and extending to cuneus, lingual gyrus. Additionally, the increased ALFF and dynamic ALFF in the precentral gyrus were found in pediatric patients. In OCD patients compared with controls, we found a significantly increased ALFF in hippocampal gyrus, cerebellum network (CN), and the dALFF in middle and inferior occipital gyrus, bilateral paracentral lobule and sensorimotor network. The findings emphasized the different patterns of static and dynamic intrinsic brain activity alterations associated with pediatric and adult OCD patients. These results provide unique insights into constructing evidenced-based distinct OCD subtypes based on brain activity and point the need of specified management for pediatric and adult OCD patients in clinical setting.

Growth hormone deficiency interferes with dynamic brain networks in short children

PURPOSE

This study aimed to explore the disparities in dynamic brain networks between children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and idiopathic short stature (ISS, non-growth hormone deficiency).

METHODS

This study enrolled 65 children with GHD and 60 sex- and age-matched children with ISS. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was performed for all participants to obtain information on dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) and functional connectivity (FC) in dynamic (dFC) or static (sFC) state. The rs-fMRI metrics were subsequently compared between the GHD and ISS groups.

RESULTS

Compared to the ISS group, the GHD group showed significant dynamic abnormalities in intra-networks of the central executive and cerebellar networks and in inter-networks of the central executive network to attentional, sensorimotor, and visual networks, as well as cerebellar network to default mode, sensorimotor, and visual networks. In addition, FC changes in the dynamic state were different from those in the static state.

CONCLUSIONS

The abnormal dynamics in intra- and inter-networks involved in cognitive, emotional, and motor functions in children with GHD extend the knowledge on brain functional alterations in children with GHD as reflected by dynamic changes in macroscopic neural activity patterns. These findings may help explain how GHD leads to various behavioral and cognitive deficits in children with short stature.

The cumulative therapeutic effect of acupuncture in patients with migraine without aura: Evidence from dynamic alterations of intrinsic brain activity and effective connectivity

We explored the dynamic alterations of intrinsic brain activity and effective connectivity after acupuncture treatment to investigate the underlying neurological mechanism of acupuncture treatment in patients with migraine without aura (MwoA). The Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans were separately obtained at baseline, after the first and 12th acupuncture sessions in 40 patients with MwoA. Compared with the healthy controls (HCs), patients with MwoA mostly showed a decreased dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) variability in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM), superior lobe of left cerebellum (Cerebellum_Crus1_L), right precuneus (PCUN.R), and so on. The decreased dALFF variability of RVM, Cerebellum_Crus1_L, and PCUN.R progressively recovered after the first and 12th acupuncture treatment sessions as compared to the baseline. There was gradually increased dynamic effective connectivity (DEC) variability in RVM outflow to the right middle frontal gyrus, left insula, right precentral gyrus, and right supramarginal gyrus, and gradually enhanced DEC variability from the right fusiform gyrus inflow to RVM. Furthermore, the gradually increased DEC variability was found from Cerebellum_Crus1_L outflow to the left middle occipital gyrus and the left precentral gyrus, from PCUN.R outflow to the right thalamus. These dALFF variabilities were positively correlated with the frequency of migraine attacks and negatively correlated with disease duration at baseline. The dynamic Granger causality analysis (GCA) coefficients of this DEC variability were positively correlated with Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire scores and negatively correlated with the frequency of migraine attacks and visual analog scale (VAS) scores after 12th acupuncture sessions. Our results were analyzed by a longitudinal fMRI in the absence of a sham acupuncture control group and provided insight into the dynamic alterations of brain activity and effective connectivity in patients with MwoA after acupuncture intervention. Acupuncture might relieve MwoA by increasing the effective connectivity of RVM, Cerebellum_Crus1_L, and PCUN.R to make up for the decreased dALFF variability in these brain areas.