Effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on functional connectivity in the related brain regions of patients with depression based on the resting-state fMRI / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the brain effect mechanism and the correlation between brain functional imaging and cognitive function in treatment of depressive disorder (DD) with transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) based on the resting-state functional magenetic reasonance imaging (rs-fMRI).@*METHODS@#Thirty-two DD patients were included in a depression group and 32 subjects of healthy condition were enrolled in a normal group. In the depression group, the taVNS was applied to bilateral Xin (CO15) and Shen (CO10), at disperse-dense wave, 4 Hz/20 Hz in frequency and current intensity ≤20 mA depending on patient's tolerance, 30 min each time, twice daily. The duration of treatment consisted of 8 weeks. The patients of two groups were undertaken rs-fMRI scanning. The scores of Hamilton depression scale (HAMD), Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA) and Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) were observed in the normal group at baseline and the depression group before and after treatment separately. The differential brain regions were observed before and after treatment in the two groups and the value of degree centrality (DC) of fMRI was obtained. Their correlation was analyzed in terms of HAMD, HAMA and WCST scores.@*RESULTS@#The scores of HAMD and HAMA in the depression group were all higher than those in the normal group (P<0.05). After treatment, the scores of HAMD and HAMA were lower than those before treatment in the depression group; the scores of total responses, response errors and perseverative errors of WCST were all lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). The brain regions with significant differences included the left inferior temporal gyrus, the left cerebellar peduncles region 1, the left insula, the right putamen, the bilateral supplementary motor area and the right middle frontal gyrus. After treatment, the value of DC in left supplementary motor area was negatively correlated to HAMD and HAMA scores respectively (r=-0.324, P=0.012; r=-0.310, P=0.015); the value of DC in left cerebellar peduncles region 1 was negatively correlated to the total responses of WCST (r=-0.322, P=0.013), and the left insula was positively correlated to the total responses of WCST (r=0.271, P=0.036).@*CONCLUSION@#The taVNS can modulate the intensity of the functional activities of some brain regions so as to relieve depressive symptoms and improve cognitive function.

Changes and predictive value of degree centrality in patients with narcolepsy type 1 based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging / 中华神经科杂志

Objective:To investigate the abnormal changes of the nodal centrality of the whole-brain network in patients with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) through the degree centrality (DC) technique of resting-state magnetic resonance and the predictive value for NT1.Methods:From September 2019 to November 2021, 18 NT1 patients who were first diagnosed and never accepted managements and 18 age-, sex-matched healthy controls recruited by advertisement in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University were required for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans and clinical scale assessment, including Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Self-rating Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Insomnia Severity Scale and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 (MFI-20). The differences in DC values between the NT1 patients and healthy controls were analyzed using the DC method. Then, the correlation between DC values in differential brain regions and clinical characteristics of NT1 was explored through Pearson correlation analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of the DC values in the differential brain regions for NT1 patients.Results:Compared with the healthy controls, the DC value of the right superior temporal gyrus was increased, while the DC values of the bilateral middle frontal gyrus and the right precuneus were decreased in the NT1 patients (all P<0.05, Gaussian random-field correction). The DC value of the right superior temporal gyrus in the NT1 patients was positively correlated with the ESS score ( r=0.82, P<0.001) and MFI-20 score ( r=0.48, P=0.040). The DC value of the right middle frontal gyrus was positively correlated with the disease course ( r=0.51, P=0.032). The ROC curve showed that the area under the curve of NT1 predicted by the DC value of the right superior temporal gyrus was 0.95. And the areas under the curve of non-NT1 predicted by the DC values of the left middle frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and right precuneus were 0.86, 0.84 and 0.87, respectively. Conclusions:NT1 patients have abnormal resting-state DC in the default network, executive network core brain regions, and superior temporal gyrus. And the DC value in the right superior temporal gyrus may be a potential biomarker of NT1 patients.

Effects of acute and chronic trauma on degree centrality of brain functional images in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder who lost their only child / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To investigate the effects and significance of acute and chronic trauma on brain degree centrality (DC) in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who lost their only child at resting state.Methods:Retrospectively, the study enrolled a total of 51 parents with PTSD, including 35 PTSD parents whose children was lost in emergencies (acute bereaved PTSD group) and 16 PTSD parents whose children was lost of chronic causes such as diseases (chronic bereaved PTSD group). Fifty local adults were also included as healthy controls (HC group). The clinical administered PTSD scale(CAPS) was used to evaluate the severity of the subjects' clinical symptoms.Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) data of all subjects were collected and DC values were calculated.SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Covariance analysis was performed among three groups, while post hoc was performed between any two groups.What's more, correlation analyses were utilized between abnormal brain regions and the scores of CAPS.Results:Significant group effects were found in multiple regions, including the right inferior temporal gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=66, -27, -21), right temporal pole (MNI: x, y, z=54, 15, -9), right orbital inferior frontal gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=42, 21, -15), bilateral medial superior frontal gyri (MNI: right x, y, z=6, 63, 12; left x, y, z=-3, 60, 18), left inferior parietal angular gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=-45, -36, 51) and left postcentral gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=-45, -33, 51). Compared with HC group, the DC of two patient groups increased in the right inferior temporal gyrus (MNI: acute x, y, z=63, -27, -21; chronic x, y, z=63, -21, -27); the DC of acute bereaved PTSD group decreased in the right temporal pole (MNI: x, y, z=45, 21, -15) and the right orbital inferior frontal gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=48, 24, -12), while the DC of chronic bereaved PTSD group decreased in the left inferior parietal angular gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=-45, -36, 51) and left postcentral gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=-45, -33, 51). Compared with chronic bereaved PTSD group, the DC of acute bereaved PTSD group increased in the left inferior parietal angular gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=-33, -39, 42) and left postcentral gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=-45, -33, 51), while decreased in the right temporal pole (MNI: x, y, z=51, 12, -9), right orbital inferior frontal gyrus (MNI: x, y, z=42, 21, -15) and bilateral medial superior frontal gyri (MNI: left x, y, z=0, 57, 15; right x, y, z=3, 57, 15). In chronic bereaved PTSD group, the DC of the left postcentral gyrus was negatively correlated with C1 (avoid trauma-related thoughts, feelings) score in CAPS ( r=-0.606, P=0.028). In acute bereaved PTSD group, the DC of the left medial superior frontal gyrus was negatively correlated with D4 (high vigilance) score ( r=-0.416, P=0.020). Conclusion:There exist functional abnormalities of multiple brain regions in acute and chronic bereaved parents with PTSD.The high arousal symptoms of the former may be related with the abnormalities of prefrontal-amygdala neural circuit, while the latter show higher avoidance which may be associated with the dysfunction of somatosensory brain regions such as postcentral gyrus.

Frequency-Resolved Connectome Hubs and Their Test-Retest Reliability in the Resting Human Brain / 神经科学通报·英文版

Functional hubs with disproportionately extensive connectivities play a crucial role in global information integration in human brain networks. However, most resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) studies have identified functional hubs by examining spontaneous fluctuations of the blood oxygen level-dependent signal within a typical low-frequency band (e.g., 0.01-0.08 Hz or 0.01-0.1 Hz). Little is known about how the spatial distributions of functional hubs depend on frequency bands of interest. Here, we used repeatedly measured R-fMRI data from 53 healthy young adults and a degree centrality analysis to identify voxelwise frequency-resolved functional hubs and further examined their test-retest reliability across two sessions. We showed that a wide-range frequency band (0.01-0.24 Hz) accessible with a typical sampling rate (fsample = 0.5 Hz) could be classified into three frequency bands with distinct patterns, namely, low-frequency (LF, 0.01-0.06 Hz), middle-frequency (MF, 0.06-0.16 Hz), and high-frequency (HF, 0.16-0.24 Hz) bands. The functional hubs were mainly located in the medial and lateral frontal and parietal cortices in the LF band, and in the medial prefrontal cortex, superior temporal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, amygdala, and several cerebellar regions in the MF and HF bands. These hub regions exhibited fair to good test-retest reliability, regardless of the frequency band. The presence of the three frequency bands was well replicated using an independent R-fMRI dataset from 45 healthy young adults. Our findings demonstrate reliable frequency-resolved functional connectivity hubs in three categories, thus providing insights into the frequency-specific connectome organization in healthy and disordered brains.

Analysis of Journal of Dental Hygiene Science Research Trends Using Keyword Network Analysis / 치위생과학회지

This research team extracted keywords from 953 papers published in the Journal of Dental Hygiene Science from 2001 to 2018 for keyword and centrality analyses using the Keyword Network Analysis method. Data were analyzed using Excel 2016 and NetMiner Version 4.4.1. By conducting a deeper analysis between keywords by overall keyword and time frame, we arrived at the following conclusions. For the 17 years considered for this study, the most frequently used words in a dental science paper were “Health,”“Oral,”“Hygiene,” and “Hygienist.” The words that form the center by connecting major words in the Journal of Dental Hygiene through the upper-degree centrality words were “Health,”“Dental,”“Oral,”“Hygiene,” and “Hygienist.” The upper betweenness centrality words were “Dental,”“Health,”“Oral,”“Hygiene,” and “Student.” Analysis results of the degree centrality words per period revealed “Health” (0.227), “Dental” (0.136), and “Hygiene” (0.136) for period 1; “Health” (0.242), “Dental” (0.177), and “Hygiene” (0.113) for period 2; “Health” (0.200), “Dental” (0.176), and “Oral” (0.082) for period 3; and “Dental” (0.235), “Health” (0.206), and “Oral” (0.147) for period 4. Analysis results of the betweenness centrality words per period revealed “Oral” (0.281) and “Health” (0.199) for period 1; “Dental” (0.205) and “Health” (0.169) for period 2, with the weight then dispersing to “Hygiene” (0.112), “Hygienist” (0.054), and “Oral” (0.053); “Health” (0.258) and “Dental” (0.246) for period 3; and “Oral” (0.364), “Health” (0.353), and “Dental” (0.333) for period 4. Based on the above results, we hope that further studies will be conducted in the future with diverse study subjects.

Degree centrality analysis of brain functional network in insomnia disorder based on voxel / 中国医学影像技术

Objective To explore the changes of brain functional network in insomnia disorder (ID) during resting-state with voxel-based degree centrality (DC).Methods Forty-five subjects underwent resting-state fMRI scans,including 22 patients with ID (ID group) and 23 sex-,age-,and education-matched healthy volunteers (control group).The subjects' sleep quality and emotion state were assessed with Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI),Hamilton anxiety scale and Hamilton depression scale.The resting-state fMRI data were analyzed with voxel-based DC.The intra-and inter-groups parameters were compared using t-test.Correlation analysis was performed between DC values of ID group and clinical parameters.Results Compared with control group,DC values increased in left parahippocampal gyrus,left hippocampus and bilateral precuneus (all P＜0.05),while decreased in left middle occipital lobe,left precuneus,left inferior frontal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus in ID group (all P＜0.05).DC values of the left hippocampus in ID patients showed significantly negative correlation with the score of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (r=-0.46,P=0.047).Conclusion ID patients have abnormal DC distribution of brain functional network,therefore providing basis for understanding pathophysiological mechanisms of ID.

Cognitive development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To investigate the characteristics of cognitive development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) degree centrality (DC) from the view of neuro-imaging.Methods Forty-five ADHD children were diagnosed at specialist clinic of Changzhou Children's Hospital,Nantong University from June 2015 to December 2016,and they were divided into 3 groups according to their ages (children aged 7-8 years old,9-10 years old and 11-12 years old,15 children in each group) and received the resting-state fMRI scans.DC value was used to analyze fMRI data.Comparative analysis was done pairwise between the three groups.Results Compared with 7-8 years old group,9-10 years old group showed lower DC value in cerebellum posterior lobe (t =-4.36) and higher DC in inferior parietal lobe (t =-5.86),and the differences were statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05,after correction).Compared with 7-8 years old group,11-12 years old group showed lower DC value in cerebellum posterior lobe (t =-4.99) and higher DC in left superior temporal gyrus (t =5.18) and superior frontal gyrus (t =4.58),and the differences were statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05,after correction).Compared with 9-10 years old group,11-12 years old group showed lower DC value in inferior parietal lobe (t =-5.71) and higher DC value in left superior temporal gyrus (t =5.05) and superior frontal gyrus (t =4.36),and all the differences were statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05,after correction).Conclusion Children with ADHD at different ages had different characteristics of brain regions of fMRI.It can offer objective evidence for early cognitive intervention of children with ADHD at different ages.

A multi-parameter resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study of brain intrinsic activity in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children / 生物医学工程学杂志

A great number of studies have demonstrated functional abnormalities in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although conflicting results have also been reported. And few studies analyzed homotopic functional connectivity between hemispheres. In this study, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were recorded from 45 medication-naïve ADHD children and 26 healthy controls. The regional homogeneity (ReHo), degree centrality (DC) and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) values were compared between the two groups to depict the intrinsic brain activities. We found that ADHD children exhibited significantly lower ReHo and DC values in the right middle frontal gyrus and the two values correlated with each other; moreover, lower VMHC values were found in the bilateral occipital lobes of ADHD children, which was negatively related with anxiety scores of Conners' Parent Rating Scale (CPRS-R) and positively related with completed categories of Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Our results might suggest that less spontaneous neuronal activities of the right middle frontal gyrus and the bilateral occipital lobes in ADHD children.

Change of Whole Brain Degree in Primary Insomnia / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

[Objective] Based on the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the abnormal features of the functional connectivity of resting brain neural network in the patients with primary insomnia,by using voxel-wise whole-brain finctional networks analysis of degree centrality (DC) for imaging evidence of neural mechanisms underlying primary insomnia.[Methods] The resting state fMRI were performed in 59 PI patients and 47 age,education,and sex-matched normal healthy subjects.Analysis of DC map changes between the two patient groups and the control group were performed by two sample t test.(threshold at P ＜ 0.05).[Results] Compared with the control group,the patients with PI showed significantly reduced DC value in bilateral medial frontal gyrus (MFG),bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG),and right insula;and increased DC value in right middle temporal gyrus (MTG),and left cuneus,(CUN),P ＜ 0.05.[Conclusion]Changes of DC value occurred in some region of brain in the P[patient groups when compared with the control group.It was indicated that DC,as a novel resting-state fMRI parameter in the voxel-wise whole-brain functional networks,might be an appealing alternative approach for further study on pathologic and neuropsychological states of PI.

Alterations of Whole Brain Networks Degree Centrality in Patients with Primary Insomnia after Acupuncture Therapy:A Voxel-based Resting-state fMRI Research / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

[Objective]To investigate the value of degree centrality(DC),a novel resting-state fMRI parameter,in voxel-wise whole-brain functional networks analysis in primary insomnia(PI)after acupuncture therapy.[Methods]The resting state fMRI were performed in 29 PI patients and 22 age,education,and sex-matched normal healthy subjects. Analysis of DC map changes between the two patient groups and the control group were performed by two sample t test.(threshold at P<0.05).[Results]Compared with the control group,patients with PI showed significantly reduced DC value in middle temporal gyrus(MTG. R);hippocampus(HIP. B);parahippocampal gyrus(PHG. R);putamen(PUT. R);cuneus(CUN. L).[Conclusions]Changes of DC value occurred in some region of brain in the PI patient groups when compared with the control group. It was indicated that DC ,as a novel resting-state fMRI parameter in the voxel-wise whole-brain functional networks ,might be an appealing alternative approach for further study on pathologic and neuropsychological states of PI.