Forum of resting-state fMRI

Effects of severing the corpus callosum on electrical and BOLD functional connectivity and spontaneous dynamic activity in the rat brain.

Brain Connect. 2013 Oct 11;

Authors: Magnuson ME, Thompson GJ, Pan WJ, Keilholz SD

Abstract
Functional networks, defined by synchronous spontaneous blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) oscillations between spatially distinct brain regions, appear to be essential to brain function and have been implicated in disease states, cognitive capacity, and sensing and motor processes. While the topographical extent and behavioral function of these networks has been extensively investigated, the neural functions that create and maintain these synchronizations remain mysterious. In this work callosotomized rodents are examined, providing a unique platform for evaluating the influence of structural connectivity via the corpus callosum on bilateral resting state functional connectivity. Two experimental groups were assessed, a full callosotomy group, in which the corpus callosum was completely sectioned, and a sham callosotomy group, in which the gray matter was sectioned but the corpus callosum remained intact. Results indicated a significant reduction in interhemispheric connectivity in the full callosotomy group as compared to the sham group in primary somatosensory cortex and caudate-putamen regions. Similarly, electrophysiology revealed significantly reduced bilateral correlation in band limited power. Bilateral gamma BLP connectivity was the most strongly affected by the full callosotomy procedure. This work represents a robust finding indicating the corpus callosum's influence on maintaining integrity in bilateral functional networks; furthermore, fMRI and electrophysiological connectivity share a similar decrease in connectivity as a result of the callosotomy, suggesting that fMRI-measured functional connectivity reflects underlying changes in large-scale coordinated electrical activity. Finally, spatiotemporal dynamic patterns were evaluated in both groups; the full callosotomy rodents displayed a striking loss of bilaterally synchronous propagating waves of cortical activity.

PMID: 24117343 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Resting state networks in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Epilepsia. 2013 Oct 10;

Authors: Cataldi M, Avoli M, de Villers-Sidani E

Abstract
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is typically described as a neurologic disorder affecting a cerebral network comprising the hippocampus proper and several anatomically related extrahippocampal regions. A new level of complexity was recently added to the study of this disorder by the evidence that TLE also appears to chronically alter the activity of several brain-wide neural networks involved in the control of higher order brain functions and not traditionally linked to epilepsy. Recently developed brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis of resting state connectivity, have greatly contributed to these observations by allowing the precise characterization of several brain networks with distinct functional signatures in the resting brain, and therefore also known as "resting state networks." These significant advances in imaging represent an opportunity to investigate the still elusive origins of the disabling cognitive and psychiatric manifestations of TLE, and could have important implications for its pathophysiology and, perhaps, its therapy. Herein we review recent studies in this field by focusing on resting state networks that have been implicated in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment in patients with epilepsy: the default mode network, the attention network, and the reward/emotion network.

PMID: 24117098 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

On development of functional brain connectivity in the young brain.

Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:650

Authors: Hoff GE, Van den Heuvel MP, Benders MJ, Kersbergen KJ, De Vries LS

Abstract
Our brain is a complex network of structurally and functionally interconnected regions, shaped to efficiently process and integrate information. The development from a brain equipped with basic functionalities to an efficient network facilitating complex behavior starts during gestation and continues into adulthood. Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) enables the examination of developmental aspects of functional connectivity (FC) and functional brain networks. This review will discuss changes observed in the developing brain on the level of network FC from a gestational age of 20 weeks onwards. We discuss findings of resting-state fMRI studies showing that functional network development starts during gestation, creating a foundation for each of the resting-state networks (RSNs) to be established. Visual and sensorimotor areas are reported to develop first, with other networks, at different rates, increasing both in network connectivity and size over time. Reaching childhood, marked fine-tuning and specialization takes place in the regions necessary for higher-order cognitive functions.

PMID: 24115929 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

The role of anterior midcingulate cortex in cognitive motor control: Evidence from functional connectivity analyses.

Hum Brain Mapp. 2013 Sep 24;

Authors: Hoffstaedter F, Grefkes C, Caspers S, Roski C, Palomero-Gallagher N, Laird AR, Fox PT, Eickhoff SB

Abstract
The rostral cingulate cortex has been associated with a multitude of cognitive control functions. Recent neuroimaging data suggest that the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) has a key role for cognitive aspects of movement generation, i.e., intentional motor control. We here tested the functional connectivity of this area using two complementary approaches: (1) resting-state connectivity of the aMCC based on fMRI scans obtained in 100 subjects, and (2) functional connectivity in the context of explicit task conditions using meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) over 656 imaging experiment. Both approaches revealed a convergent functional network architecture of the aMCC with prefrontal, premotor and parietal cortices as well as anterior insula, area 44/45, cerebellum and dorsal striatum. To specifically test the role of the aMCC's task-based functional connectivity in cognitive motor control, separate MACM analyses were conducted over "cognitive" and "action" related experimental paradigms. Both analyses confirmed the same task-based connectivity pattern of the aMCC. While the "cognition" domain showed higher convergence of activity in supramodal association areas in prefrontal cortex and anterior insula, "action" related experiments yielded higher convergence in somatosensory and premotor areas. Secondly, to probe the functional specificity of the aMCC's convergent functional connectivity, it was compared with a neural network of intentional movement initiation. This exemplary comparison confirmed the involvement of the state independent FC network of the aMCC in the intentional generation of movements. In summary, the different experiments of the present study suggest that the aMCC constitute a key region in the network realizing intentional motor control. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PMID: 24115159 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Identifying major depressive disorder using Hurst exponent of resting-state brain networks.

Psychiatry Res. 2013 Oct 7;

Authors: Wei M, Qin J, Yan R, Li H, Yao Z, Lu Q

Abstract
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of major depressive disorder (MDD) have revealed abnormalities of functional connectivity within or among the resting-state networks. They provide valuable insight into the pathological mechanisms of depression. However, few reports were involved in the "long-term memory" of fMRI signals. This study was to investigate the "long-term memory" of resting-state networks by calculating their Hurst exponents for identifying depressed patients from healthy controls. Resting-state networks were extracted from fMRI data of 20 MDD and 20 matched healthy control subjects. The Hurst exponent of each network was estimated by Range Scale analysis for further discriminant analysis. 95% of depressed patients and 85% of healthy controls were correctly classified by Support Vector Machine with an accuracy of 90%. The right fronto-parietal and default mode network constructed a deficit network (lower memory and more irregularity in MDD), while the left fronto-parietal, ventromedial prefrontal and salience network belonged to an excess network (longer memory in MDD), suggesting these dysfunctional networks may be related to a portion of the complex of emotional and cognitive disturbances. The abnormal "long-term memory" of resting-state networks associated with depression may provide a new possibility towards the exploration of the pathophysiological mechanisms of MDD.

PMID: 24113289 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Brain stimulation and functional imaging with fMRI and PET.

Handb Clin Neurol. 2013;116C:77-95

Authors: Ko JH, Tang CC, Eidelberg D

Abstract
The use of functional brain imaging techniques, including positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has allowed for monitoring neuronal and neurochemical activities in the living human brain and identifying abnormal changes in various neurological and psychiatric diseases. Combining these methods with techniques such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has greatly advanced our understanding of the effects of such treatment on brain activity at targeted regions as well as specific disease-related networks. Indeed, recent network-level analysis focusing on inter-regional covarying activities in data interpretation has unveiled several key mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of brain stimulation. However, non-negligible discrepancies have been reported in the literature, attributable in part to the heterogeneity of both imaging and brain stimulation techniques. This chapter summarizes recent studies that combine brain imaging and brain stimulation, and includes discussion of future direction in these lines of research.

PMID: 24112887 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Graph theoretical connectivity analysis of the human brain while listening to music with emotional attachment: Feasibility study.

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2013 Jul;2013:6526-6529

Authors: Karmonik C, Brandt AK, Fung SH, Grossman RG, Frazier JT

Abstract
Benefits of listening to music with emotional attachment while recovering from a cerebral ischemic event have been reported. To develop a better understanding of the effects of music listening on the human brain, an algorithm for the graph-theoretical analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data was developed. From BOLD data of two paradigms (block-design, first piece: music without emotional attachment, additional visual guidance by a moving cursor in the score sheet; second piece: music with emotional attachment), network graphs were constructed with correlations between signal time courses as edge weights. Functional subunits in these graphs were identified with the MCODE clustering algorithm and mapped back into anatomical space using AFNI. Emotional centers including the right amygdala and bilateral insula were activated by the second piece (emotional attachment) but not by the first piece. Network clustering analysis revealed two separate networks of small-world property corresponding to task-oriented and resting state conditions, respectively. Functional subunits with highest interactions were bilateral precuneus for the first piece and left middle frontal gyrus and right amygdala, bilateral insula, left middle temporal gyrus for the second piece. Our results indicate that fMRI in connection with graph theoretical network analysis is capable of identifying and differentiating functional subunits in the human brain when listening to music with and without emotional attachment.

PMID: 24111237 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Resting state inter and intra hemispheric human brain functional connectivity.

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2013 Jul;2013:6522-6525

Authors: Razlighi QR, Steffener J, Habeck C, Laine A, Stern Y

Abstract
Resting-state functional connectivity between neuroanatomical regions has attracted significant attention in recent years. In the process of obtaining the resting-state functional connectivity map of the human brain from blood-oxygen-level-dependent fMRI signals, it is common to average the signals from left and right hemispheres. This averaging can introduce unappreciated complexities and unintended consequences not related to the research question of interest. In this paper, we mathematically demonstrate that measures of functional connectivity obtained by averaging homologous regions from the both hemispheres become undesirably dependent on four inter-hemispheric connectivity measures. We explore this finding in real-world fMRI data from 25 healthy young participants. We show that inter-hemispheric averaging has a mixed effect on the results and may introduce correlation artifacts to the connectivity map. Furthermore, we show mathematically and demonstrate with Monte Carlo simulations of null data that inter-hemispheric averaging will not alter human brain connectivity map at rest only and if only there are no inter-hemispheric correlations.

PMID: 24111236 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Classification of bipolar disorder using basal-ganglia-related functional connectivity in the resting state.

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2013 Jul;2013:1057-1060

Authors: Teng S, Lu CF, Wang PS, Hung CI, Li CT, Tu PC, Su TP, Wu YT

Abstract
The emotional and cognitive symptoms of bipolar disorder (BD) are suggested to involve in a distributed neural network. The resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) offers an important tool to investigate the alterations in brain network level of BD. The aim of this study was to discriminate BD patients from healthy controls using whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity patterns. The majority of most discriminating functional connectivities were between the basal ganglia and three core neurocognitive networks, including the default mode, executive control and salience networks. Using these resting-state functional connectivities between the basal ganglia and three core neurocognitive networks as the features, the clustering accuracy achieved 90%.

PMID: 24109873 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Physiological Noise in Brainstem fMRI.

Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:623

Authors: Brooks JC, Faull OK, Pattinson KT, Jenkinson M

Abstract
The brainstem is directly involved in controlling blood pressure, respiration, sleep/wake cycles, pain modulation, motor, and cardiac output. As such it is of significant basic science and clinical interest. However, the brainstem's location close to major arteries and adjacent pulsatile cerebrospinal fluid filled spaces, means that it is difficult to reliably record functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from. These physiological sources of noise generate time varying signals in fMRI data, which if left uncorrected can obscure signals of interest. In this Methods Article we will provide a practical introduction to the techniques used to correct for the presence of physiological noise in time series fMRI data. Techniques based on independent measurement of the cardiac and respiratory cycles, such as retrospective image correction (RETROICOR, Glover et al., 2000), will be described and their application and limitations discussed. The impact of a physiological noise model, implemented in the framework of the general linear model, on resting fMRI data acquired at 3 and 7 T is presented. Data driven approaches based such as independent component analysis (ICA) are described. MR acquisition strategies that attempt to either minimize the influence of physiological fluctuations on recorded fMRI data, or provide additional information to correct for their presence, will be mentioned. General advice on modeling noise sources, and its effect on statistical inference via loss of degrees of freedom, and non-orthogonality of regressors, is given. Lastly, different strategies for assessing the benefit of different approaches to physiological noise modeling are presented.

PMID: 24109446 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

RESTING FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY REVEALS RESIDUAL FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2013 Nov;84(11):e2

Authors: Zamboni G, Wilcock G, Douaud G, Drazich E, McCulloch E, Filippini N, Tracey I, Brooks J, Smith S, Mackay C

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Functional MRI (fMRI) has great potential for unravelling mechanisms of functional decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), but task-fMRI studies have produced conflicting results, partly due to failure to account for underlying morphological changes, and to variations in ability to perform the tasks. Resting-fMRI is promising because it does not require a task. We aimed to improve the understanding of how resting-fMRI relates to brain function.
METHODS: 80 elderly (25 controls, 25 MCI, 30 AD) underwent a combined multimodal MRI protocol including task-and resting-fMRI. Task-fMRI data were acquired during the execution of a memory paradigm designed to account for differences in task performance. Structural and physiological confounds were modelled for both fMRI modalities.
RESULTS: Successful recognition was associated with increased task-fMRI activation in lateral prefrontal regions in AD relative to controls; this overlapped with increased resting-fMRI functional connectivity in the same regions.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that task-and resting-fMRI can reveal residual ability over the known changes in brain morphology and cognition occurring in AD, and suggest that resting-fMRI has a potential to measure the effect of new treatments.

PMID: 24109003 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

What about the "Self" is Processed in the Posterior Cingulate Cortex?

Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:647

Authors: Brewer JA, Garrison KA, Whitfield-Gabrieli S

Abstract
In the past decade, neuroimaging research has begun to identify key brain regions involved in self-referential processing, most consistently midline structures such as the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The majority of studies have employed cognitive tasks such as judgment about trait adjectives or mind wandering, that have been associated with increased PCC activity. Conversely, tasks that share an element of present-centered attention (being "on task"), ranging from working memory to meditation, have been associated with decreased PCC activity. Given the complexity of cognitive processes that likely contribute to these tasks, the specific contribution of the PCC to self-related processes still remains unknown. Building on this prior literature, recent studies have employed sampling methods that more precisely link subjective experience to brain activity, such as real-time fMRI neurofeedback. This recent work suggests that PCC activity may represent a sub-component cognitive process of self-reference - "getting caught up in" one's experience. For example, getting caught up in a drug craving or a particular viewpoint. In this paper, we will review evidence across a number of different domains of cognitive neuroscience that converges in activation and deactivation of the PCC including recent neurophenomenological studies of PCC activity using real-time fMRI neurofeedback.

PMID: 24106472 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Aberrant Intrinsic Connectivity of Hippocampus and Amygdala Overlap in the Fronto-Insular and Dorsomedial-Prefrontal Cortex in Major Depressive Disorder.

Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:639

Authors: Tahmasian M, Knight DC, Manoliu A, Schwerthöffer D, Scherr M, Meng C, Shao J, Peters H, Doll A, Khazaie H, Drzezga A, Bäuml J, Zimmer C, Förstl H, Wohlschläger AM, Riedl V, Sorg C

Abstract
Neuroimaging studies of major depressive disorder (MDD) have consistently observed functional and structural changes of the hippocampus (HP) and amygdale (AY). Thus, these brain regions appear to be critical elements of the pathophysiology of MDD. The HP and AY directly interact and show broad and overlapping intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) to other brain regions. Therefore, we hypothesized the HP and AY would show a corresponding pattern of aberrant intrinsic connectivity in MDD. Resting-state functional MRI was acquired from 21 patients with MDD and 20 healthy controls. ß-Maps of region-of-interest-based FC for bilateral body of the HP and basolateral AY were used as surrogates for iFC of the HP and AY. Analysis of variance was used to compare ß-maps between MDD and healthy control groups, and included covariates for age and gender as well as gray matter volume of the HP and AY. The HP and AY of MDD patient's showed an overlapping pattern of reduced FC to the dorsomedial-prefrontal cortex and fronto-insular operculum. Both of these regions are known to regulate the interactions among intrinsic networks (i.e., default mode, central executive, and salience networks) that are disrupted in MDD. These results provide the first evidence of overlapping aberrant HP and AY intrinsic connectivity in MDD. Our findings suggest that aberrant HP and AY connectivity may interact with dysfunctional intrinsic network activity in MDD.

PMID: 24101900 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

The Structural-Functional Connectome and the Default Network of the Human Brain.

Neuroimage. 2013 Oct 4;

Authors: Horn A, Ostwald D, Reisert M, Blankenburg F

Abstract
An emerging field of human brain imaging deals with the characterization of the connectome, a comprehensive global description of structural and functional connectivity within the human brain. However, the question of how functional and structural connectivity are related has not been fully answered yet. Here, we used different methods to estimate the connectivity between each voxel of the cerebral cortex based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data in order to obtain observer-independent functional-structural connectomes of the human brain. Probabilistic fiber-tracking and a novel global fiber-tracking technique were used to measure structural connectivity whereas for functional connectivity, full and partial correlations between each voxel pair's fMRI-timecourses were calculated. For every voxel, two vectors consisting of functional and structural connectivity estimates to all other voxel's in the cortex were correlated with each other. In this way, voxels structurally and functionally connected to similar regions within the rest of the brain could be identified. Areas forming parts of the 'default mode network' (DMN) showed the highest agreement of structure-function connectivity. Bilateral precuneal and inferior parietal regions were found using all applied techniques, whereas the global tracking algorithm additionally revealed bilateral medial prefrontal cortices and early visual areas. There were no significant differences between the results obtained from full and partial correlations. Our data suggests that the DMN is the functional brain network, which uses the most direct structural connections. Thus, the anatomical profile of the brain seems to shape its functional repertoire and the computation of the whole-brain functional-structural connectome appears to be a valuable method to characterize global brain connectivity within and between populations.

PMID: 24099851 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Patterns of resting state connectivity in human primary visual cortical areas: A 7T fMRI study.

Neuroimage. 2013 Oct 4;

Authors: Raemaekers M, Schellekens W, van Wezel RJ, Petridou N, Kristo G, Ramsey NF

Abstract
The nature and origin of fMRI resting state fluctuations and connectivity is still not fully known. More detailed knowledge on the relationship between resting state patterns and brain function may help to elucidate this matter. We therefore performed an in depth study of how resting state fluctuations map to the well known architecture of the visual system. We investigated resting state connectivity at both a fine and large scale within and across visual areas V1, V2 and V3 in ten human subjects using a 7 Tesla scanner. We found evidence for several coexisting and overlapping connectivity structures at different spatial scales. At the fine-scale level we found enhanced connectivity between the same topographic locations in the fieldmaps of V1, V2 and V3, enhanced connectivity to the contralateral functional homologue, and to a lesser extent enhanced connectivity between iso-eccentric locations within the same visual area. However, by far the largest proportion of the resting state fluctuations occurred within large-scale bilateral networks. These large-scale networks mapped to some extent onto the architecture of the visual system and could thereby obscure fine-scale connectivity. In fact, most of the fine-scale connectivity only became apparent after the large-scale network fluctuations were filtered from the timeseries. We conclude that fMRI resting state fluctuations in visual cortex may in fact be a composite signal of different overlapping sources. Isolating the different sources could enhance correlations between BOLD and electrophysiological correlates if resting state activity.

PMID: 24099850 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Dynamic and Static Contributions of the Cerebrovasculature to the Resting-State BOLD Signal.

Neuroimage. 2013 Oct 4;

Authors: Tak S, Wang DJ, Polimeni JR, Yan L, Chen JJ

Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the resting state, particularly fMRI based on the blood-oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal, has been extensively used to measure functional connectivity in the brain. However, the mechanisms of vascular regulation that underlie the BOLD fluctuations during rest are still poorly understood. In this work, using dual-echo pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling and MR angiography (MRA), we assess the spatio-temporal contribution of cerebral blood flow (CBF) to the resting-state BOLD signals and explore how the coupling of these signals is associated with regional vasculature. Using a general linear model analysis, we found that statistically significant coupling between resting-state BOLD and CBF fluctuations is highly variable across the brain, but the coupling is strongest within the major nodes of established resting-state networks, including the default-mode, visual, and task-positive networks. Moreover, by exploiting MRA-derived large vessel (macrovascular) volume fraction, we found that the degree of BOLD-CBF coupling significantly decreased as the ratio of large vessels to tissue volume increased. These findings suggest that the portion of resting-state BOLD fluctuations at the sites of medium-to-small vessels (more proximal to local neuronal activity) is more closely regulated by dynamic regulations in CBF, and that this CBF regulation decreases closer to large veins, which are more distal to neuronal activity.

PMID: 24099842 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

The Effects of Pharmacological Treatment on Functional Brain Connectome in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Oct 4;

Authors: Shin DJ, Jung WH, He Y, Wang J, Shim G, Byun MS, Jang JH, Kim SN, Lee TY, Park HY, Kwon JS

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Previous neuroimaging studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have reported both baseline functional alterations and pharmacological changes in localized brain regions and connections; however, the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment on the whole-brain functional network have not yet been elucidated.
METHODS: Twenty-five drug-free OCD patients underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. After 16-weeks, seventeen patients who received SSRI treatment were rescanned. Twenty-three matched healthy control subjects were examined at baseline for comparison, and 21 of them were rescanned after 16 weeks. Topological properties of brain networks (including small-world, efficiency, modularity, and connectivity degree) were analyzed cross-sectionally and longitudinally with graph-theory approach.
RESULTS: At baseline, OCD patients relative to healthy control subjects showed decreased small-world efficiency (including local clustering coefficient, local efficiency, and small-worldness) and functional association between default-mode and frontoparietal modules as well as widespread altered connectivity degrees in many brain areas. We observed clinical improvement in OCD patients after 16 weeks of SSRI treatment, which was accompanied by significantly elevated small-world efficiency, modular organization, and connectivity degree. Improvement of obsessive-compulsive symptoms was significantly correlated with changes in connectivity degree in right ventral frontal cortex in OCD patients after treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: This is first study to use graph-theory approach for investigating valuable biomarkers for the effects of SSRI on neuronal circuitries of OCD patients. Our findings suggest that OCD phenomenology might be the outcome of disrupted optimal balance in the brain networks and that reinstating this balance after SSRI treatment accompanies significant symptom improvement.

PMID: 24099506 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Disorganization of Equilibrium Directional Interactions in the Brain Motor Network of Parkinson's disease: New Insight of Resting State Analysis Using Granger Causality and Graphical Approach.

J Med Signals Sens. 2013 4;3(2):69-78

Authors: Ghasemi M, Mahloojifar A

Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by tremor, rigidity, and slowness of movements. Particular changes related to various pathological attacks in PD could result in causal interactions of the brain network from resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data. In this paper, we aimed to disclose the network structure of the directed influences over the brain using multivariate Granger causality analysis and graph theory in patients with PD as compared with control group. rs-fMRI at rest from 10 PD patients and 10 controls were analyzed. Topological properties of the networks showed that information flow in PD is smaller than that in healthy individuals. We found that there is a balanced local network in healthy control group, including positive pair-wise cross connections between caudate and cerebellum and reciprocal connections between motor cortex and caudate in the left and right hemispheres. The results showed that this local network is disrupted in PD due to disturbance of the interactions in the motor networks. These findings suggested alteration of the functional organization of the brain in the resting state that affects the information transmission from and to other brain regions related to both primary dysfunctions and higher-level cognition impairments in PD. Furthermore, we showed that regions with high degree values could be detected as betweenness centrality nodes. Our results demonstrate that properties of small-world connectivity could also recognize and quantify the characteristics of directed influence brain networks in PD.

PMID: 24098860 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Default Mode, Dorsal Attention and Auditory Resting State Networks Exhibit Differential Functional Connectivity in Tinnitus and Hearing Loss.

PLoS One. 2013;8(10):e76488

Authors: Schmidt SA, Akrofi K, Carpenter-Thompson JR, Husain FT

Abstract
We investigated auditory, dorsal attention, and default mode networks in adults with tinnitus and hearing loss in a resting state functional connectivity study. Data were obtained using continuous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while the participants were at "rest" and were not performing any task. Participants belonged to one of three groups: middle-aged adults with tinnitus and mild-to-moderate high frequency hearing loss (TIN), age-matched controls with normal hearing and no tinnitus (NH), and a second control group with mild-to-moderate high frequency hearing loss without tinnitus (HL). After standard preprocessing, (a) a group independent component analysis (ICA) using 30 components and (b) a seeding-based connectivity analysis were conducted. In the group ICA, the default mode network was the only network to display visual differences between subject groups. In the seeding analysis, we found increased connectivity between the left parahippocampus and the auditory resting state network in the TIN group when compared to NH controls. Similarly, there was also an increased correlation between the right parahippocampus and the dorsal attention network when compared to HL controls. Other group differences in this attention network included decreased correlations between the seed regions and the right supramarginal gyrus in TIN patients when compared to HL controls. In the default mode network, there was a strong decrease in correlation between the seed regions and the precuneus when compared to both control groups. The findings of this study identify specific alterations in the connectivity of the default mode, dorsal attention, and auditory resting state networks due to tinnitus. The results suggest that therapies for tinnitus that mitigate the increased connectivity of limbic regions with auditory and attention resting state networks and the decreased coherence of the default mode network could be effective at reducing tinnitus-related distress.

PMID: 24098513 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Abnormalities of functional brain networks in pathological gambling: a graph-theoretical approach.

Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:625

Authors: Tschernegg M, Crone JS, Eigenberger T, Schwartenbeck P, Fauth-Bühler M, Lemènager T, Mann K, Thon N, Wurst FM, Kronbichler M

Abstract
Functional neuroimaging studies of pathological gambling (PG) demonstrate alterations in frontal and subcortical regions of the mesolimbic reward system. However, most investigations were performed using tasks involving reward processing or executive functions. Little is known about brain network abnormalities during task-free resting state in PG. In the present study, graph-theoretical methods were used to investigate network properties of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data in PG. We compared 19 patients with PG to 19 healthy controls (HCs) using the Graph Analysis Toolbox (GAT). None of the examined global metrics differed between groups. At the nodal level, pathological gambler showed a reduced clustering coefficient in the left paracingulate cortex and the left juxtapositional lobe (supplementary motor area, SMA), reduced local efficiency in the left SMA, as well as an increased node betweenness for the left and right paracingulate cortex and the left SMA. At an uncorrected threshold level, the node betweenness in the left inferior frontal gyrus was decreased and increased in the caudate. Additionally, increased functional connectivity between fronto-striatal regions and within frontal regions has also been found for the gambling patients. These findings suggest that regions associated with the reward system demonstrate reduced segregation but enhanced integration while regions associated with executive functions demonstrate reduced integration. The present study makes evident that PG is also associated with abnormalities in the topological network structure of the brain during rest. Since alterations in PG cannot be explained by direct effects of abused substances on the brain, these findings will be of relevance for understanding functional connectivity in other addictive disorders.

PMID: 24098282 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]