ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the functional connectivity (FC) of the fronto-striatal circuitry in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) based on the resting-state fMRI and its correlation with the inhibitory function.Methods 27 medication-naive female patients with BN and 27 age-and education-matched female healthy control subjects were included in the study.All the subjects performed a stop signal task (SST) and underwent the resting-state fMRI scan,separately.The FC between striatal subregions and the frontal cortex was analyzed.Results Compared with healthy controls,FC between the right ventral rostral putamen (VRP) and the right supplementary motor areas (SMA) decreased (MNI coordinate:x =3,y =-15,z =51,K =27) in patients with BN.And the FC was also decreased between the right VRP and premotor area(PM) (MNI coordinate:x =27,y =0,z =57,K =44).FC between bilateral dorsal caudal putamen (DCP) (MNI coordinate:x=21,y=-6,z=48,K=43) and the right PM(MNI coordinate:x=21,y=-12,z=57,K=24) was decreased in patients with BN (P＜0.05,Alphasim corrected,voxel P＜0.005,clusters ≥ 20 voxels).FC between the right VRP and right SMA was negatively correlated with the stop signal reaction time (SSRT) in patients with BN (r=-0.595,P=0.004).The FC between right DCP and right PM was positively correlated with the impulsivity regulation subscale scores of the Eating Disorder Inventory-Ⅱ in patients with BN(r=0.483,P=0.023).Conclusion There is disrupted FC between the striatum and motor cortex in medication-naive female patients with BN based on resting-state fMRI,which may be related to impaired inhibitory control in patients with BN.