Most recent paper

Front Neurosci. 2025 Mar 5;19:1444999. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1444999. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Brain dynamics offer a more direct insight into brain function than network structure, providing a profound understanding of dysregulation and control mechanisms within intricate brain systems. This study investigates the dynamics of functional brain networks in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients to decipher the mechanisms underlying brain dysfunction during depression and assess the impact of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) intervention.

METHODS: We employed energy landscape analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to examine the dynamics of functional brain networks in MDD patients. The analysis focused on key dynamical indicators of the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SN), and the central execution network (CEN). The effects of rTMS intervention on these networks were also evaluated.

RESULTS: Our findings revealed notable dynamical alterations in the pDMN, the vDMN, and the aSN, suggesting their potential as diagnostic and therapeutic markers. Particularly striking was the altered activity observed in the dDMN in the MDD group, indicative of patterns associated with depressive rumination. Notably, rTMS intervention partially reverses the identified dynamical alterations.

DISCUSSION: Our results shed light on the intrinsic dysfunction mechanisms of MDD from a dynamic standpoint and highlight the effects of rTMS intervention. The identified alterations in brain network dynamics provide promising analytical markers for the diagnosis and treatment of MDD. Future studies should further explore the clinical applications of these markers and the comprehensive dynamical effects of rTMS intervention.

PMID:40109660 | PMC:PMC11920141 | DOI:10.3389/fnins.2025.1444999

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2025 Mar 17:S0360-3016(25)00247-0. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2025.03.017. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This prospective observational study employed resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) to investigate network-level disturbances associated with neurocognitive function (NCF) changes in patients with gliomas following partial-brain radiation therapy (RT).

METHODS: Adult post-operative patients with either IDH-wildtype or IDH-mutant gliomas underwent computerized NCF testing and rs-fMRI at baseline and 6 months post-RT. rs-fMRI data were assessed using seed-based functional connectivity (FC). NCF changes were quantified by the percent change in age-normalized composite scores from baseline (ΔNCFcomp). Connectivity-regression analysis assessed the association between network FC changes and NCF changes, using a split-sample approach with a 26-patient training set and a 6-patient validation set, iterated 200 times. Permutation tests evaluated the significance of network selection.

RESULTS: Between September 2020 and December 2023, 43 patients were enrolled, with 32 completing both baseline and follow-up evaluations. The mean ΔNCFcomp was 2.9% (SD: 13.7%), with 38% experiencing a decline. Patients with IDH-mutant glioma had similar NCF changes compared to those with IDH-wildtype glioma. Intra-hemispheric FC was similar between ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres for 91% patients at baseline, and 69% had similar intra-hemispheric FC change post-treatment. FC changes accounted for a moderate fraction of variance in NCF changes (mean R2: 0.301, SD: 0.249), with intra-network FC of the Parietal Memory Network (PMN-PMN, p=0.001) and inter-network FC between the PMN and the Visual Network (PMN-VN, p=0.002) as the most significant factors. Similar findings were obtained by sensitivity analyses using only the FC data from the hemisphere contralateral to the tumor.

CONCLUSIONS: Post-RT rs-fMRI changes significantly reflected NCF decline, highlighting rs-fMRI as a promising imaging biomarker for neurocognitive decline after RT.

PMID:40107623 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2025.03.017

Neurologist. 2025 Mar 19. doi: 10.1097/NRL.0000000000000622. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) on the posterior inferior frontal gyrus of the left hemisphere on the expression function of patients with aphasia after stroke, and to explore the specific mechanism of fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) analysis and degree centrality (DC) analysis of resting-state functional MRI.

METHODS: According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 40 patients with poststroke aphasia were randomized into a treatment group (iTBS group) and a control group (S-iTBS group). Patients in the iTBS group received iTBS +speech training, and patients in the S-iTBS group received sham iTBS + speech training. The Western aphasia test (Chinese version) was used to assess spontaneous language, naming, retelling, and aphasia quotient before and after treatment; resting-state fMRI scans were performed before and after treatment, and the scanned image data were analyzed to explore specific activated or suppressed brain regions.

RESULTS: Compared with before and after treatment, the scores of spontaneous language, naming, retelling, and aphasia quotient of the patients in iTBS group improved significantly, and the spontaneous language, naming, retelling, and aphasia quotient of the patients in S-iTBS group also improved. After the treatment, the scores of naming, retelling and aphasia quotient of the patients in the iTBS group improved significantly compared with that of the patients in the S-iTBS group. The resting-state fMRI results of the 2 groups before and after treatment were fALFF analysis found that the fALFF value increased in multiple brain regions in the left frontal and temporal lobes of the patients in iTBS group. Meanwhile, DC analysis also found increased DC values in multiple frontotemporal brain regions of the left hemisphere of patients in the iTBS group, indicating that the improved activation of the above brain regions of the patients in the iTBS group was significantly compared with that of the patients in the S-iTBS group.

CONCLUSIONS: iTBS combined with conventional speech training significantly improved the expression function of patients with aphasia after stroke. After iTBS action on the left hemisphere, increased activation of multiple brain regions in the left hemisphere may be one of the important mechanisms by which iTBS improves expression function in poststroke aphasia patients.

PMID:40104992 | DOI:10.1097/NRL.0000000000000622

Int J Ophthalmol. 2025 Mar 18;18(3):487-495. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2025.03.16. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate changes in local brain activity after laser assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in myopia patients, and further explore whether post-LASIK (POL) patients and healthy controls (HCs) can be distinguished by differences in dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dALFF) in specific brain regions.

METHODS: The resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were collected from 15 myopic patients who underwent LASIK and 15 matched healthy controls. This method was selected to calculate the corresponding dALFF values of each participant, to compare dALFF between the groups and to determine whether dALFF distinguishes reliably between myopic patients after LASIK and HCs using the linear support vector machine (SVM) permutation test (5000 repetitions).

RESULTS: dALFF was lower in POL than in HCs at the right precentral gyrus and right insula. Classification accuracy of the SVM was 89.1% (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION: The activity of spontaneous neurons in the right precentral gyrus and right insula of myopic patients change significantly after LASIK. SVM can correctly classify POL patients and HCs based on dALFF differences.

PMID:40103964 | PMC:PMC11865659 | DOI:10.18240/ijo.2025.03.16

Int J Ophthalmol. 2025 Mar 18;18(3):469-477. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2025.03.14. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To assess the alterations in the resting-state function connections between the two cerebral hemispheres in patients with optic neuritis (ON) and healthy controls (HCs).

METHODS: A total of 12 ON patients (six males and six females) and 12 HCs (six males and six females) who were highly matched for sex, age, and educational level were recruited. They underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), testing and brain activities were assessed using the degree centrality (DC) method. Correlation analysis between the mean DC values in specific brain areas and behavior performances was analyzed as well. Linear correlations between A anxiety scale (AS) and depression scale (DS) values and DC values in brain regions of patients with ON were also analyzed.

RESULTS: The areas that showed a higher DC value in ON patients were the right angular gyrus and bilateral precuneus, while the left insula and left superior temporal gyrus (LSTG) were regions that presented a lower DC value in ON patients. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis confirmed the accuracy of the area under the curve (AUC) assessment. Linear analysis showed anxiety scale (AS) and depression scale (DS) values in the left insula were both negatively correlated with DC values, while best corrected visual acuity logMAR-R (BCVA logMAR-R) showed a negative correlation with DC in the LSTG.

CONCLUSION: The study explores altered brain activities of specific regions in patients with ON. The results provide clues for revealing the underlying mechanism of ON development.

PMID:40103952 | PMC:PMC11865650 | DOI:10.18240/ijo.2025.03.14

Cereb Cortex. 2025 Mar 6;35(3):bhaf063. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf063.

ABSTRACT

Accumulating evidence suggests that individuals with high sensory processing sensitivity often experience sensory overload and have difficulty sustaining attention, which can particularly resemble attention deficit symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. However, due to the lack of understanding about the potential neural pathways involved in those processes, a comprehensive view of how sensory processing sensitivity and attention deficit are related is generally limited. Here, we quantified the sensory processing sensitivity and attention deficit using the Highly Sensitive Person Scale and the Adult Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale, respectively, to investigate the association between sensory processing sensitivity and attention deficit and further identify the corresponding neural substrates via the use of resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) analyses. On the behavioral level, the results indicated a significantly positive correlation between sensory processing sensitivity and attention deficit traits, while on the neural level, the sensory processing sensitivity score was positively correlated with functional connectivity between the rostral hippocampus and inferior parietal lobule, which is the core regions of the attention network. Mediation analysis revealed that hippocampus-Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL) connectivity can further influence attention deficit through a mediating role of sensory processing sensitivity. Overall, these findings suggest that enhanced functional coupling between the hippocampus and attention network regions may heighten sensitivity to environmental stimuli, leading to increased distractibility and potentially contributing to attention deficit.

PMID:40103362 | DOI:10.1093/cercor/bhaf063