The Characteristics of Entorhinal Cortex Functional Connectivity in Alzheimer's Disease Patients with Depression.

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) which decreases the life quality of both patients and caregivers. There are currently no effective drugs. It is therefore important to explore the pathogenesis of depression in AD patients. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the entorhinal cortex (EC) functional connectivity (FC) in the whole brain neural network of AD patients with depression (D-AD). METHODS: Twenty-four D-AD patients, 14 AD patients without depression (nD-AD), and 20 healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We set the EC as the seed and used FC analysis. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine FC differences among the three groups. RESULTS: Using the left EC as the seed point, there were FC differences among the three groups in the left EC-inferior occipital gyrus. Using the right EC as the seed point, there were FC differences among the three groups in the right EC-middle frontal gyrus, -superior parietal gyrus, -superior medial frontal gyrus, and -precentral gyrus. Compared with the nD-AD group, the D-AD group had increased FC between the right EC and right postcentral gyrus. CONCLUSION: Asymmetry of FC in the EC and increased FC between the EC and right postcentral gyrus may be important in the pathogenesis of depression in AD.

Disrupted topological organization of functional brain networks in Alzheimer's disease patients with depressive symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a common symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the underlying neural mechanism is unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the topological properties of AD patients with depressive symptoms (D-AD) using graph theoretical analysis. METHODS: We obtained 3-Tesla rsfMRI data from 24 D-AD patients, 20 non-depressed AD patients (nD-AD), and 20 normal controls (NC). Resting state networks were identified using graph theory analysis. ANOVA with a two-sample t-test post hoc analysis in GRETNA was used to assess the topological measurements. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate that the three groups show characteristic properties of a small-world network. NCs showed significantly larger global and local efficiency than D-AD and nD-AD patients. Compared with nD-AD patients, D-AD patients showed decreased nodal centrality in the pallidum, putamen, and right superior temporal gyrus. They also showed increased nodal centrality in the right superior parietal gyrus, the medial orbital portion of the right superior frontal gyrus, and the orbital portion of the right superior frontal gyrus. Compared with nD-AD patients, NC showed decreased nodal betweenness in the right superior temporal gyrus, and increased nodal betweenness in medial orbital part of the right superior frontal gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that D-AD is associated with alterations of topological structure. Our study provides new insights into the brain mechanisms underlying D-AD.

Alterations of Regional Homogeneity in Parkinson's Disease: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Study.

Objective The objective of this study is to investigate the regional homogeneity (ReHo) of spontaneous brain activities in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Methods In total, 20 PD patients and 20 matched normal controls (NCs) participants were recruited for this study. The regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging on a 3T MRI system was used to investigate local brain activity. We examined activity in two frequency bands, slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz) and slow-5 (0.010-0.027 Hz). Two-sample t-tests were used to determine the between-group differences in the ReHo data. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the relationships between the ReHo values and clinical indices in PD patients. Results Compared with NCs, PD patients showed decreased ReHo values in the right middle occipital gyrus, right cuneus, and left superior occipital gyrus, and increased ReHo values in the right middle frontal gyrus in slow-4. PD patients showed decreased ReHo values in the right calcarine, left calcarine, and right precentral gyrus compared with NCs in slow-5. Correlation analysis showed that disease duration was negatively correlated with ReHo values in the right precentral gyrus in PD patients. Conclusions These results indicate that several brain regions were altered in PD patients. The regions are associated with the visual network-related cortex, motor cortex, and default mode network. The findings provide new insights into the neuropathophysiology of PD.

Dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep are associated with regional homogeneity of left inferior occidental gyrus in primary insomnia patients: a preliminary resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

BACKGROUND: The neural mechanisms of sleep beliefs and attitudes in primary insomnia (PI) patients at resting state remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the features of regional homogeneity (ReHo) in PI using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). METHODS: Thirty-two PI patients and 34 normal controls (NC) underwent rsfMRI using a 3 T scanner at Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province. Participants were assessed with the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep scale (DBAS-16) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Statistical analyses were performed to determine the regions in which ReHo differed between the two groups. Correlation analyses were performed between the ReHo index of each of these regions and DBAS-16 in PI patients. RESULTS: PI patients showed increased ReHo values in the right superior frontal gyrus, and decreased ReHo values in the left cerebellar gyrus, left inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) and left amygdala compared with those of NC. ReHo values in the left IOG were negatively correlated with total DBAS-16 scores, and scores for "consequences of insomnia" and"worry/helplessness about sleep"in PI patients. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ReHo alterations in the left IOG may play an important role in the dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep in PI.