Most recent paper

Neuroimage. 2025 Jan 26:121052. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121052. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The association between the human brain and gut microbiota, known as the "brain-gut-microbiota axis", is involved in the neuropathological mechanisms of schizophrenia (SZ); however, its association patterns and correlations with symptom severity and neurocognition are still largely unknown. In this study, 43 SZ patients and 55 normal controls (NCs) were included, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and gut microbiota data were acquired for each participant. First, the brain features of brain images and functional brain networks were computed from rs-fMRI data; the gut features of gut microbiota abundance and the gut microbiota network were computed from gut microbiota data. Second, we propose a novel methodology to construct an individual brain-gut microbiota network (BGMN) for each participant by combining the brain and gut features via multiple strategies. Third, discriminative models between SZ patients and NCs were built using the connectivity matrices of the BGMN as input features. Moreover, the correlations between the most discriminative features and the scores of symptom severity and neurocognition were analyzed in SZ patients. The results showed that the best discriminative model between SZ patients and NCs was achieved using the connectivity matrices of the BGMN when all the brain and gut features were integrated, with an accuracy of 0.90 and an area under the curve value of 0.97. The most discriminative features were related primarily to the genera Faecalibacterium and Collinsella, in which the genus Faecalibacterium was linked to the visual system and subcortical cortices and the genus Collinsella was linked to the default network and subcortical cortices. Furthermore, parts of the most discriminative features were significantly correlated with the scores of neurocognition in the SZ patients. The methodology for constructing individual BGMNs proposed in this study can help us reveal the associations between the brain and gut microbiota and understand the neuropathology of SZ.

PMID:39875038 | DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121052

J Clin Psychiatry. 2024 Jun 26;85(3):23m15148. doi: 10.4088/JCP.23m15148.

ABSTRACT

Abstract.

Background: This study aimed to identify (1) neural markers of suicide attempt using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and (2) associations between rs-fMRI metrics and resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC), suicidal phenotype, and peripheral blood inflammation markers.

Methods: Inflammation markers (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-2, and IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α TNF-α) and rs-fMRI metrics were measured in 20 healthy controls (HCs) and 42 patients with unipolar depression according to the DSM-5 criteria (n = 21 suicide attempters [SAs] in the last 8 days and n = 21 affective controls [ACs] without lifetime suicidal history) between February 1 and November 30, 2017. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity, and rs-FC were estimated in prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula.

Results: Participants were mainly women (age: 40-48 years). Only CRP concentration was higher in SAs than in ACs and HCs (3.55 [0.5; 13.3] vs 0.6 [0.3; 4.4] vs 0.8 [0.3; 13.9] mg/L, respectively, P < 10-3). ALFF values in the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were lower in SAs than in ACs and HCs (all P < 10-2), even after controlling for suicidal ideation intensity and CRP level. Suicidal ideation was negatively correlated with all rs-fMRI metrics (except ReHo of left side) of this region in patients. The rs-FC values of bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, left orbital IFG, and middle frontal orbital gyrus were higher in SAs than in ACs and HCs (all P < .05).

Conclusions: Resting-state activity and connectivity in regions involved in language, cognitive control, and decision making may be associated with suicidal behaviors, but not with inflammation markers.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03052855.

PMID:39874064 | DOI:10.4088/JCP.23m15148

Brain Imaging Behav. 2025 Jan 28. doi: 10.1007/s11682-025-00974-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex psychiatric condition marked by significant mood fluctuations that deeply affect quality of life. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying BD is critical for improving diagnostic accuracy and developing more effective treatments. This study utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to investigate functional connectivity within the ventral and dorsal attention networks in 52 patients with BD and 51 healthy controls. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) was employed to establish network templates, while Network Homogeneity (NH) analysis facilitated the comparison of NH values across various brain regions. We examined the association of NH values with clinical measures, including the Hamilton Depression Scale, Perceptual Deficit Questionnaire, and Young Mania Scale. Results indicated that BD patients exhibited lower NH values in the right inferior temporal gyrus of the dorsal attention network and the right middle temporal gyrus of the ventral attention network compared to controls. Notably, NH values in the right superior marginal gyrus of the ventral network were higher in the BD group. Although no significant correlations were found between NH values and clinical symptoms, Support Vector Machine (SVM) analysis demonstrated over 60% accuracy in differentiating BD patients based on NH values. These findings highlight the potential of NH measures as biomarkers for BD, underscore the importance of advanced neuroimaging in uncovering the disorder's complex neural dynamics, and point to the challenges and need for further research to improve predictive accuracy.

PMID:39873860 | DOI:10.1007/s11682-025-00974-2

Front Neurosci. 2025 Jan 13;18:1515540. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1515540. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common bowel-brain interaction disorder whose pathogenesis is unclear. Many studies have investigated abnormal changes in brain function in IBS patients. In this study, we analyzed the dynamic changes in brain function in IBS patients using a Hidden Markov Model (HMM).

METHODS: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data and the clinical characteristics of 35 patients with IBS and 31 healthy controls (HCs) were collected. The rs-fMRI data of all participants were analyzed using HMM to identify recurrent brain activity states that evolve over time during the resting state. Additionally, the temporal properties of these HMM states and their correlations with clinical scale scores were examined.

RESULT: This study utilized the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) method to identify six distinct HMM states. Significant differences in fractional occupancy (FO) and lifetime (LT) were observed in states 5 and 6 between the IBS and HCs. The state transition probabilities differed between IBS and HCs, with an increased probability of transitioning from state 2 to state 6 in IBS patients. The reconfiguration of HMM states over time scales in IBS patients was associated with abnormal activity in the default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor network (SMN), and cingulo-opercular network (CON).

CONCLUSION: This study offers novel insights into the dynamic reorganization of brain activity patterns in IBS and elucidates potential links between these patterns and IBS-related emotional regulation and symptom experience, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying IBS.

PMID:39872994 | PMC:PMC11769953 | DOI:10.3389/fnins.2024.1515540

Front Neurol. 2025 Jan 13;15:1515262. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1515262. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes of brain functional activity in patients with acute unilateral vestibulopathy (AUVP) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

METHODS: We studied 32 AUVP patients and 30 healthy controls (HC) who received resting-state fMRI scanning. Methods of voxel-based amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) were adopted to compare the difference in brain function between the two groups. In addition, we evaluated the associations between abnormal neuroimaging results and clinical data in AUVP patients.

RESULTS: Compared with HC, patients with AUVP showed lower ALFF in brain regions of bilateral insular, right precentral gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus, as well as higher ALFF in left cerebellar anterior lobe. Using these abnormal brain areas as seeds, we observed decreased FC between left insular and left precuneus in AUVP patients. Furthermore, AUVP patients showed increased FC between left insular and left supplementary motor area. Results of correlation analysis indicated that ALFF value (z-value) in left insular was negatively correlated with the canal paresis value (p = 0.005, r = -0.483), and the FC (z-value) between left insular and left precuneus was negatively correlated with dizziness handicap inventory score (p = 0.012, r = -0.438) in patients with AUVP.

CONCLUSION: Patients with AUVP during acute period showed altered functional activity and connectivity in brain regions mainly involved in motor control and vestibular information processing. These changes in brain functional activity and connectivity were potentially attributed to decreased vestibular input resulting from unilateral peripheral vestibular impairment.

PMID:39871988 | PMC:PMC11769794 | DOI:10.3389/fneur.2024.1515262

Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2025 Jan 25;249:108760. doi: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2025.108760. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Language is a critical aspect of human cognition and function, and its preservation is a priority for neurosurgical interventions in the left frontal operculum. However, identification of language areas can be inconsistent, even with electrical mapping. The use of multimodal structural and functional neuroimaging in conjunction with intraoperative neuromonitoring may augment cortical language area identification to guide the resection of left frontal opercular lesions.

METHODS: Structural and functional connectome scans were generated using a machine learning software to reparcellate a validated schema of the Human Connectome Project Multi-Modal Parcellation (HCP-MMP) atlas based on individual structural and functional connectivity identified through anatomic, diffusion, and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). Structural connectivity imaging was analyzed to determine at-risk parcellations and seed-based analysis of regions of interest (ROIs) was performed to identify functional relationships.

RESULTS: Two patients with left frontal lesions were analyzed, one with a WHO Grade IV gliosarcoma, and the other with an intracerebral abscess. Individual patterns of functional connectivity were identified by functional neuroimaging revealing distinct relationships between language network parcellations. Multimodal, connectome-guided resections with intraoperative neuromonitoring were performed, with both patients demonstrating intact or improved language function relative to baseline at follow-up. Follow-up imaging demonstrated functional reorganization observed between Brodmann areas 44 and 45 and other parcellations of the language network.

CONCLUSION: Preoperative visualization of structural and functional connectivity of language areas can be incorporated into a multimodal operative approach with intraoperative neuromonitoring to facilitate the preservation of language areas during intracranial neurosurgery. These modalities may also be used to monitor functional recovery.

PMID:39870028 | DOI:10.1016/j.clineuro.2025.108760

Brain. 2025 Jan 27:awaf022. doi: 10.1093/brain/awaf022. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) consists of three nodes interspersed within Penfield's motor effector regions. The configuration of the somato-cognitive action network nodes resembles the one of the 'plis de passage' of the central sulcus: small gyri bridging the precentral and postcentral gyri. Thus, we hypothesize that these may provide a structural substrate of the somato-cognitive action network. Here, using microdissections of sixteen human hemispheres, we consistently identified a chain of three distinct plis de passage with increased underlying white matter, in locations analogous to the somato-cognitive action network nodes. We mapped localizations of plis de passage into standard stereotactic space to seed fMRI connectivity across 9,000 resting-state fMRI scans, which demonstrated the connectivity of these sites with the somato-cognitive action network. Intraoperative recordings during direct electrical central sulcus stimulation further identified inter-effector regions corresponding to plis de passage locations. This work provides a critical step towards improved understanding of the somato-cognitive action network in both structural and functional terms. Further, our work has the potential to guide the development of refined motor cortex stimulation techniques for treating brain disorders, and operative resective techniques for complex surgery of the motor cortex.

PMID:39869456 | DOI:10.1093/brain/awaf022

Brain Struct Funct. 2025 Jan 27;230(2):35. doi: 10.1007/s00429-025-02897-6.

ABSTRACT

The brain entropy (BEN) reflects the randomness of brain activity and is inversely related to its temporal coherence. In recent years, BEN has been found to be associated with a number of neurocognitive, biological, and sociodemographic variables such as fluid intelligence, age, sex, and education. However, evidence regarding the potential relationship between BEN and brain structure is still lacking. In this study, we use resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) data to estimate BEN and investigate its associations with three structural brain metrics: gray matter volume (GMV), surface area (SA), and cortical thickness (CT). We performed separate analyses on BEN maps derived from four distinct rsfMRI runs, and used a voxelwise as well as a regions-of-interest (ROIs) approach. Our findings consistently showed that lower BEN was related to increased GMV and SA in the lateral frontal and temporal lobes, inferior parietal lobules, and precuneus. We hypothesize that lower BEN and higher SA might reflect higher brain reserve as well as increased information processing capacity.

PMID:39869211 | DOI:10.1007/s00429-025-02897-6

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jan 14:2025.01.14.632764. doi: 10.1101/2025.01.14.632764.

ABSTRACT

Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, pose significant diagnostic challenges with major implications on mental health. The measures of resting-state fMRI spatiotemporal complexity offer a powerful tool for identifying irregularities in brain activity. To capture global brain connectivity, we employed information-theoretic metrics, overcoming the limitations of pairwise correlation analysis approaches. This enables a more comprehensive exploration of higher-order interactions and multiscale intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) in the psychotic brain. In this study, we provide converging evidence suggesting that the psychotic brain exhibits states of randomness across both spatial and temporal dimensions. To further investigate these disruptions, we estimated brain network connectivity using redundancy and synergy measures, aiming to assess the integration and segregation of topological information in the psychotic brain. Our findings reveal a disruption in the balance between redundant and synergistic information, a phenomenon we term brainquake in this study, which highlights the instability and disorganization of brain networks in psychosis. Moreover, our exploration of higher-order topological functional connectivity reveals profound disruptions in brain information integration. Aberrant information interactions were observed across both cortical and subcortical ICNs. We specifically identified the most easily affected irregularities in the sensorimotor, visual, temporal, default mode, and fronto-parietal networks, as well as in the hippocampal and amygdalar regions, all of which showed disruptions. These findings underscore the severe impact of psychotic states on multiscale critical brain networks, suggesting a profound alteration in the brain's complexity and organizational states.

PMID:39868241 | PMC:PMC11761638 | DOI:10.1101/2025.01.14.632764

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jan 17:2025.01.16.633407. doi: 10.1101/2025.01.16.633407.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Tau protein accumulation is closely linked to synaptic and neuronal loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD), resulting in progressive cognitive decline. Although tau-PET imaging is a direct biomarker of tau pathology, it is costly, carries radiation risks, and is not widely accessible. Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) complexity-an entropy-based measure of BOLD signal variation-has been proposed as a non-invasive surrogate biomarker of early neuronal dysfunction associated with tau pathology.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether fMRI-based brain complexity (sample entropy and multiscale entropy) can match or exceed tau-PET in classifying cognitively normal (CN) versus cognitively impaired (MCI/AD) individuals. And to investigate and compare the most influential network regions-of-interest (ROIs) for classification between fMRI complexity and tau-PET, thereby identifying key neuroanatomical correlates of AD-related changes.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional study employing 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) classification with five-fold cross-validation and leave-one-network-out analysis.

SETTING: Data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database.

PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty-seven older adults (age 72.5 ± 7.5 years), including 95 CN, 45 MCI, and 7 AD.

MEASUREMENTS: We created whole-brain complexity maps from rs-fMRI and standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) maps from tau-PET. Each modality was separately fed into CNN classifiers. Region-based analyses (leave-one-network-out) were performed to identify critical ROIs for classification.

RESULTS: fMRI complexity showed classification accuracy comparable to tau-PET yet surpassed it in F1-score (0.64 vs. 0.61) and area under the curve (AUC; 0.73 vs. 0.67). Salience and dorsal attention networks contributed most to fMRI-based classification, and a dorsal attention network contributed most to tau-PET-based classification.

CONCLUSIONS: fMRI complexity performs similarly to tau-PET in detecting cognitive impairment related to AD and identifies partially distinct critical ROIs, suggesting an alternative, radiation- free imaging biomarker for earlier detection and broader clinical application.

PMID:39868208 | PMC:PMC11761101 | DOI:10.1101/2025.01.16.633407

Front Neurosci. 2025 Jan 10;18:1530967. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1530967. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate static and dynamic brain functional alterations in dysthyroid optic neuropathy (DON) using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) with the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-seven thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) patients (23 DON and 34 non-DON) and 27 healthy controls (HCs) underwent rs-fMRI scans. Static and dynamic ALFF (sALFF and dALFF) and ReHo (sReHo and dReHo) values were compared between groups. The support-vector machine (SVM) classification method was used to examine the diagnostic performance of the identified models.

RESULTS: Compared to non-DON patients, DON patients showed decreased sALFF in the bilateral lingual gyrus (LING) and right cuneus (CUN), alongside increased sALFF in the bilateral medial part of the superior frontal gyrus, right dorsolateral part of the superior frontal gyrus (SFGdor), and right precentral gyrus. DON patients also exhibited decreased dALFF in the left LING and right CUN, together with increased dALFF in the right orbital part of the middle frontal gyrus and right SFGdor in comparison to non-DON patients. Meanwhile, DON patients had lower sReHo in the right LING, and higher sReHo and dReHo in the right supramarginal gyrus compared to non-DON patients. When detecting DON, the dALFF model showed optimal diagnostic performance (AUC 0.9987).

CONCLUSION: Dysthyroid optic neuropathy patients exhibited both static and dynamic brain functional alterations in visual, cognitive, and emotion-related brain regions, deepening our current understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of this disease. Rs-fMRI-based metrics, especially dALFF, may serve as relevant neuroimaging markers for diagnosing DON.

PMID:39867455 | PMC:PMC11757300 | DOI:10.3389/fnins.2024.1530967

medRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jan 18:2025.01.17.25320748. doi: 10.1101/2025.01.17.25320748.

ABSTRACT

IMPORTANCE: The pathophysiology of ADHD is complicated by high rates of psychiatric comorbidities, thus delineating unique versus shared functional brain perturbations is critical in elucidating illness pathophysiology.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI)-complexity alterations among children with ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), respectively, and comorbid ADHD, ODD, and OCD, within the cool and hot executive function (EF) networks.

DESIGN: We leveraged baseline data (wave 0) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.

SETTING: The data was collected between September 2016 and September 2019 from 21 sites in the USA.

PARTICIPANTS: Children who singularly met all DSM-5 behavioral criteria for ADHD ( N = 61), ODD ( N = 38), and OCD ( N = 48), respectively, were extracted, alongside children with comorbid ADHD, ODD, OCD, and/or other psychiatric diagnoses ( N = 833). A control sample of age-, sex-, and developmentally-matched children was also extracted ( N = 269).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Voxel-wise sample entropy (SampEn) was computed using the LOFT Complexity Toolbox. Mean SampEn within all regions of the EF networks was calculated for each participant and hierarchical models with Generalized Estimating Equations compared SampEn of comorbid-free and comorbid ADHD, ODD, and OCD within the EF networks.

RESULTS: SampEn was reduced in comorbid-free ADHD and ODD in overlapping regions of both EF networks, including the bilateral superior frontal gyrus, anterior/posterior cingulate gyrus, and bilateral caudate (Wald statistic = 5.682 to 10.798, p < 0.05 & BH corrected), with ADHD additionally affected in the right inferior/middle frontal gyrus and bilateral frontal orbital cortex (Wald statistic = 7.231 to 9.420, p < 0.05 & BH corrected). Among comorbid presentations, the additional presence of ADHD symptomatology was associated with significantly lower SampEn in every region of interest ( z = -3.973 to -2.235, p < 0.05 & BH corrected).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: ADHD and ODD shared common impairments underlying the EF networks in the comorbid-free presentations, with ADHD showing more widespread complexity reduction. When ADHD co-occurred with other psychiatric disorders, the reduction in SampEn extended beyond the regions affected in comorbid-free ADHD, indicating that comorbidities amplify neural complexity deficits.

PMID:39867408 | PMC:PMC11759830 | DOI:10.1101/2025.01.17.25320748

medRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jan 15:2025.01.14.25320216. doi: 10.1101/2025.01.14.25320216.

ABSTRACT

Neuroimaging methods rely on models of neurovascular coupling that assume hemodynamic responses evolve seconds after changes in neural activity. However, emerging evidence reveals noncanonical BOLD (blood oxygen level dependent) responses that are delayed under stress and aberrant in neuropsychiatric conditions. To investigate BOLD coupling to resting-state fluctuations in neural activity, we simultaneously recorded EEG and fMRI in people with schizophrenia and psychiatrically unaffected participants. We focus on alpha band power to examine voxelwise, time-lagged BOLD correlations. Principally, we find diversity in the temporal profile of alpha-BOLD coupling within regions of the default mode network (DMN). This includes early coupling (0-2 seconds BOLD lag) for more posterior regions, thalamus and brainstem. Anterior regions of the DMN show coupling at canonical lags (4-6 seconds), with greater lag scores associated with self-reported measures of stress and greater lag scores in participants with schizophrenia. Overall, noncanonical alpha-BOLD coupling is widespread across the DMN and other non-cortical regions, and is delayed in people with schizophrenia. These findings are consistent with a "hemo-neural" hypothesis, that blood flow and/or metabolism can regulate ongoing neural activity, and further, that the hemo-neural lag may be associated with subjective arousal or stress. Our work highlights the need for more studies of neurovascular coupling in psychiatric conditions.

PMID:39867401 | PMC:PMC11759611 | DOI:10.1101/2025.01.14.25320216

Med Image Comput Comput Assist Interv. 2024 Oct;15003:131-140. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-72384-1_13. Epub 2024 Oct 3.

ABSTRACT

Delineating the normative developmental profile of functional connectome is important for both standardized assessment of individual growth and early detection of diseases. However, functional connectome has been mostly studied using functional connectivity (FC), where undirected connectivity strengths are estimated from statistical correlation of resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) signals. To address this limitation, we applied regression dynamic causal modeling (rDCM) to delineate the developmental trajectories of effective connectivity (EC), the directed causal influence among neuronal populations, in whole-brain networks from infancy to adolescence (0-22 years old) based on high-quality rs-fMRI data from Baby Connectome Project (BCP) and Human Connectome Project Development (HCP-D). Analysis with linear mixed model demonstrates significant age effect on the mean nodal EC which is best fit by a "U" shaped quadratic curve with minimal EC at around 2 years old. Further analysis indicates that five brain regions including the left and right cuneus, left precuneus, left supramarginal gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus have the most significant age effect on nodal EC (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). Moreover, the frontoparietal control (FPC) network shows the fastest increase from early childhood to adolescence followed by the visual and salience networks. Our findings suggest complex nonlinear developmental profile of EC from infancy to adolescence, which may reflect dynamic structural and functional maturation during this critical growth period.

PMID:39866850 | PMC:PMC11758277 | DOI:10.1007/978-3-031-72384-1_13

Front Psychiatry. 2025 Jan 10;15:1385782. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1385782. eCollection 2024.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: While functional neuroimaging studies have reported on the neural correlates of severe antisocial behaviors, such as delinquency, little is known about whole brain resting state functional connectivity (FC) of incarcerated adolescents (IA). The aim of the present study is to identify potential differences in resting state connectivity between a group of male IA, compared to community adolescents (CA). The second objective is to investigate the relations among FC and psychological factors associated with delinquent behaviors, namely psychopathic traits (callous unemotional traits, interpersonal problems, and impulsivity), socio-cognitive (empathy and reflective functioning RF) impairments and psychological problems (externalizing, internalizing, attention and thought problems).

METHODS: 31 male IA and 30 male CA participated in 8 minutes resting state functional MRI. Network Based Statistics (NBS) was used to compare FC among 142 brain regions between the two groups. Correlation and regressions analysis were performed to explore the associations between FC and the self-reported psychopathic traits, empathy, RF, and psychological problems.

RESULTS: Compared to the CA, the IA group presented significantly increased resting state FC in a distributed subnetwork including medial prefrontal, posterior and dorsal cingulate, temporal, and occipital regions. Both within the IA group and across the whole sample, increased mean connectivity of the subnetwork correlated with lower RF (RF uncertainty). Across the whole sample, the mean connectivity was associated with higher scores of externalizing problems and impulsivity dimension of psychopathy.

DISCUSSION: While extending the characterization of whole brain resting state FC in IA, our results also provide insights into the neurofunctional mechanisms linking low reflective functioning abilities to externalizing behavior during adolescence.

PMID:39866687 | PMC:PMC11757290 | DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1385782

Acta Neuropsychiatr. 2025 Jan 27;37:e6. doi: 10.1017/neu.2024.53.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to utilise graph theory to explore the functional brain networks in individuals with tic disorders and to investigate resting-state functional connectivity changes in critical brain regions associated with tic disorders.

METHODS: Participants comprised individuals with tic disorders and age-matched healthy controls, ranging from 6 to 18 years old, all recruited from Korea University Guro Hospital. We ensured a medication-naïve cohort by excluding participants exposed to psychotropic medications for at least three weeks prior to the study. Data included structural and resting-state functional MRI scans, analysed with the CONN-fMRI Functional Connectivity toolbox v20b. The analysis included 22 patients (18 males, 4 females) and 26 controls (14 males, 12 females).

RESULTS: Significantly increased global efficiency was observed in the left inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis among tic disorder patients compared to controls. Furthermore, this region displayed enhanced resting-state functional connectivity with its right counterpart in patients versus controls.

CONCLUSION: The inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis, known for its inhibitory role, may reflect adaptive functional adjustments in response to tic symptoms. Increased hubness of the inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis possibly represents functional adjustments in response to tic symptoms. The identified brain region with increased efficiency and connectivity presents a promising avenue for further research into tic expression and control mechanisms.

PMID:39865845 | DOI:10.1017/neu.2024.53

Handb Clin Neurol. 2025;206:27-36. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-90918-1.00012-5.

ABSTRACT

Sleep deprivation (SD) is an experimental procedure to study the effects of sleep loss on the human brain. Neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), have been pivotal in studying these effects. The present chapter aims to retrace the state of the art regarding the literature that examines the SD effects on the brain through functional connectivity (FC) evaluated in fMRI and EEG settings, separately. Specifically, we focused on the cognitive domains mainly affected by sleep loss and the underlying brain connectivity alterations. SD disrupts homeostatic and circadian processes, negatively affecting cognitive and cerebral functionality explored through FC. All evidence confirms the detrimental role of SD on brain connectivity impacting several resting-state networks and resulting in cognitive impairments. To conclude, SD may offer useful insights into pathogenic mechanisms likely resembling those induced by chronic sleep loss that might find their application in the clinical context.

PMID:39864929 | DOI:10.1016/B978-0-323-90918-1.00012-5

J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2025 Feb;12(2):100030. doi: 10.1016/j.tjpad.2024.100030. Epub 2025 Jan 1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Imaging studies showed early atrophy of the cholinergic basal forebrain in prodromal sporadic Alzheimer's disease and reduced posterior basal forebrain functional connectivity in amyloid positive individuals with subjective cognitive decline. Similar investigations in familial cases of Alzheimer's disease are still lacking.

OBJECTIVES: To test whether presenilin-1 E280A mutation carriers have reduced basal forebrain functional connectivity and whether this is linked to amyloid pathology.

DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study that analyzes baseline functional imaging data.

SETTING: We obtained data from the Colombia cohort Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Autosomal-Dominant Alzheimer's Disease Trial.

PARTICIPANTS: We analyzed data from 215 asymptomatic subjects carrying the presenilin-1 E280A mutation [64% female; 147 carriers (M = 35 years), 68 noncarriers (M = 40 years)].

MEASUREMENTS: We extracted functional magnetic resonance imaging data using seed-based connectivity analysis to examine the anterior and posterior subdivisions of the basal forebrain. Subsequently, we performed a Bayesian Analysis of Covariance to assess the impact of carrier status on functional connectivity in relation to amyloid positivity. For comparison, we also investigated hippocampus connectivity.

RESULTS: We found no effect of carrier status on anterior (Bayesian Factor10 = 1.167) and posterior basal forebrain connectivity (Bayesian Factor10 = 0.033). In carriers, we found no association of amyloid positivity with basal forebrain connectivity.

CONCLUSIONS: We falsified the hypothesis of basal forebrain connectivity reduction in preclinical mutation carriers with amyloid pathology. If replicated, these findings may not only confirm a discrepancy between familial and sporadic Alzheimer's disease, but also suggest new potential targets for future treatments.

PMID:39863323 | DOI:10.1016/j.tjpad.2024.100030

J Affect Disord. 2025 Jan 23:S0165-0327(25)00136-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.01.116. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The potential pairwise connections among high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), striatum-based circuits, and anhedonia in adolescent depression are not clear. This study aimed to explore whether hs-CRP levels in adolescents with depression influence anhedonia via alterations of striatum-based functional connectivity (FC).

METHODS: A total of 201 adolescents (92 with depressive episodes with anhedonia (anDE), 58 with DE without anhedonia (non-anDE), and 51 healthy controls (HCs)) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and completed the anhedonia subscale of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). hs-CRP levels were measured from peripheral blood samples in all DE patients.

RESULTS: Compared with HCs, the anDE and non-anDE groups showed increased FC between the left dorsal caudate putamen (DCP_L) and bilateral Cerebellum Crus I, and decreased FC between the left ventral rostral putamen (VRP_L) and right parahippocampal cortex (PHC) (all p < 0.05). Only the non-anDE group exhibited increased FC between the right visual cortex (VC_R) and left cerebellum VI, VC_R, and right fusiform gyrus (FG), and the left visual cortex (VC_L) and right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) compared to HCs (all p < 0.05). Compared to the non-anDE group, the anDE group showed reduced FC between the VC_R and left cerebellum VI and between the DCP_L and right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) (all p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that DCP_L and right SFG FC negatively predicted anhedonia severity (β = -0.288, p = 0.007). Although hs-CRP levels had no direct effect, FC between the DCP_L and right SFG fully mediated the relationship between hs-CRP and anhedonia in the anDE group (effect = 0.184, Bootstrapping 95 % CI = 0.0156, 0.436).

CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that hs-CRP influences anhedonia through a fully mediated pathway involving alterations in the frontostriatal network, contributing to a greater understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying anhedonia.

PMID:39862985 | DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2025.01.116

J Integr Neurosci. 2025 Jan 20;24(1):26280. doi: 10.31083/JIN26280.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The significance of tactile stimulation in human social development and personal interaction is well documented; however, the underlying cerebral processes remain under-researched. This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of social touch processing, with a particular focus on the functional connectivity associated with the aftereffects of touch.

METHODS: A total of 27 experimental subjects were recruited for the study, all of whom underwent a 5-minute calf and foot massage prior to undergoing resting-state fMRI. Additionally, 11 healthy controls participated solely in the resting-state fMRI recording. A functional connectivity network analysis was conducted to examine the alterations in connections between different brain regions following massage.

RESULTS: The findings indicated the involvement of discrete neural networks in the processing of social touch, with notable discrepancies in functional connectivity observed between the experimental and control groups. The study revealed that the control group exhibited a higher degree of connectivity within a subnetwork comprising 25 connections and 23 nodes than the experimental group following the massage intervention. The experimental group showed hypoactivation in this subnetwork following the massage. The left anterior pulvinar thalamus and the right pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, which serve as the key hubs within this subnetwork, exhibited higher clustering and increased node strength in the control group. Relatively small and unequal sample sizes are the limitations of the study that may affect the generalizability of the results.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings elucidate the neural underpinnings of tactile experiences and their potential impact on behavior and emotional state. Gaining insight into these mechanisms could inform therapeutic approaches that utilize touch to mitigate stress and enhance mental health. From a practical standpoint, our results have significant implications for the development of sensory stimulation strategies for patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness, sensory loss, autism spectrum disorders, or limited access to tactile interaction in their upper extremities.

PMID:39862011 | DOI:10.31083/JIN26280