Both attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders with a high prevalence. They are often comorbid and both exhibit abnormalities ...in sustained attention, yet common and distinct neural patterns of ASD and ADHD remain unidentified.AimsTo investigate shared and distinct functional connectivity patterns in a relatively large sample of boys (7- to 15-year-olds) with ADHD, ASD and typical development matched by age, gender and IQ.
We applied machine learning techniques to investigate patterns of surface-based brain resting-state connectivity in 86 boys with ASD, 83 boys with ADHD and 125 boys with typical development.
We observed increased functional connectivity within the limbic and somatomotor networks in boys with ASD compared with boys with typical development. We also observed increased functional connectivity within the limbic, visual, default mode, somatomotor, dorsal attention, frontoparietal and ventral attention networks in boys with ADHD compared with boys with ASD. In addition, using a machine learning approach, we were able to discriminate typical development from ASD, typical development from ADHD and ASD from ADHD with accuracy rates of 76.3%, 84.1%, and 79.3%, respectively.
Our results may shed new light on the underlying mechanisms of ASD and ADHD and facilitate the development of new diagnostic methods for these disorders.Declaration of interestJ.K. holds equity in a startup company, MNT.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a common neurological disorder. This study aims to investigate the modulation effect of Baduanjin (a popular mind-body exercise) on MCI. 69 patients were randomized ...to Baduanjin, brisk walking, or an education control group for 24 weeks. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans were applied at baseline and at the end of the experiment. Compared to the brisk walking and control groups, the Baduanjin group experienced significantly increased MoCA scores. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) analysis showed significantly decreased ALFF values in the right hippocampus (classic low-freqency band, 0.01-0.08 Hz) in the Baduanjin group compared to the brisk walking group and increased ALFF values in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, slow-5 band, 0.01-0.027 Hz) in the Baduanjin group compared to the control group. Further, ALFF value changes in the right hippocampus and bilateral ACC were significantly associated with corresponding MoCA score changes across all groups. We also found increased gray matter volume in the Baduanjin group in the right hippocampus compared to the brisk walking group and in the bilateral ACC compared to the control group. In addition, there was an increased resting state functional connectivity between the hippocampus and right angular gyrus in the Baduanjin group compared to the control group. Our results demonstrate the potential of Baduanjin for the treatment of MCI.
Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is associated with widespread functional and structural changes in the brain. This study aims to investigate the resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) changes of ...visual networks in cLBP patients and the feasibility of distinguishing cLBP patients from healthy controls using machine learning methods. cLBP (n = 90) and control individuals (n = 74) were enrolled and underwent resting-state BOLD fMRI scans. Primary, dorsal, and ventral visual networks derived from independent component analysis were used as regions of interest to compare resting state functional connectivity changes between the cLBP patients and healthy controls. We then applied a support vector machine classifier to distinguish the cLBP patients and control individuals. These results were further verified in a new cohort of subjects. We found that the functional connectivity between the primary visual network and the somatosensory/motor areas were significantly enhanced in cLBP patients. The rsFC between the primary visual network and S1 was negatively associated with duration of cLBP. In addition, we found that the rsFC of the visual network could achieve a classification accuracy of 79.3% in distinguishing cLBP patients from HCs, and these results were further validated in an independent cohort of subjects (accuracy = 66.7%). Our results demonstrate significant changes in the rsFC of the visual networks in cLBP patients. We speculate these alterations may represent an adaptation/self-adjustment mechanism and cross-model interaction between the visual, somatosensory, motor, attention, and salient networks in response to cLBP. Elucidating the role of the visual networks in cLBP may shed light on the pathophysiology and development of the disorder.
Despite the high prevalence and socioeconomic impact of chronic low back pain (cLBP), treatments for cLBP are often unsatisfactory, and effectiveness varies widely across patients. Recent ...neuroimaging studies have demonstrated abnormal resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the default mode, salience, central executive, and sensorimotor networks in chronic pain patients, but their role as predictors of treatment responsiveness has not yet been explored. In this study, we used machine learning approaches to test if pre-treatment rsFC can predict responses to both real and sham acupuncture treatments in cLBP patients. Fifty cLBP patients participated in 4 weeks of either real (N = 24, age = 39.0 ± 12.6, 16 females) or sham acupuncture (N = 26, age = 40.0 ± 13.7, 15 females) treatment in a single-blinded trial, and a resting-state fMRI scan prior to treatment was used in data analysis. Both real and sham acupuncture can produce significant pain reduction, with those receiving real treatment experiencing greater pain relief than those receiving sham treatment. We found that pre-treatment rsFC could predict symptom changes with up to 34% and 29% variances for real and sham treatment, respectively, and the rsFC characteristics that were significantly predictive for real and sham treatment differed. These results suggest a potential way to predict treatment responses and may facilitate the development of treatment plans that optimize time, cost, and available resources.
Expectation can significantly modulate pain and treatment effects. This study aims to investigate if boosting patients' expectancy can enhance the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and its ...underlying brain mechanism.
Seventy-four KOA patients were recruited and randomized to three groups: boosted acupuncture (with a manipulation to enhance expectation), standard acupuncture, or treatment as usual (TAU). Each patient underwent six treatments before being debriefed, and four additional treatments after being debriefed. The fMRI scans were applied during the first and sixth treatment sessions.
We found significantly decreased knee pain in the boosted acupuncture group compared to the standard acupuncture or TAU groups after both six and ten treatments. Resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses using the nucleus accumbens (NAc) as the seed showed rsFC increases between the NAc and the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC)/rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the boosted group as compared to the standard acupuncture group after multiple treatments. Expectancy scores after the first treatment were significantly associated with increased NAc-rACC/MPFC rsFC and decreased knee pain following treatment.
Our study provides a novel method and mechanism for boosting the treatment of pain in patients with KOA. Our findings may shed light on enhancing outcomes of pharmacological and integrative medicines in clinical settings.
•Acupuncture with enhanced expectancy produced greater pain relief in KOA patients.•NAc – ACC/MPFC rsFC increased after acupuncture with enhanced expectancy.•NAc – ACC/MPFC rsFC increases are associated with clinical improvements.•Our findings provide a novel method for boosting the treatment of chronic pain.
The brain has long been known to be the regulation center of itch, but the neuropathology of chronic itch, such as chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), remains unclear. Thus, we aimed to explore the ...brain areas involved in the pathophysiology of CSU in hopes that our results may provide valuable insights into the treatment of chronic itch conditions. 40 CSU patients and 40 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Urticaria activity scores 7 (UAS7) were collected to evaluate patient's clinical symptoms. Amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) analysis were used to assess brain activity and related plasticity. Compared with HCs, CSU patients exhibited 1) higher ALFF values in the right ventral striatum / putamen, which were positively associated with clinical symptoms as measured by UAS7; 2) gray matter volume (GMV) increase in the right ventral striatum and putamen; and 3) decreased rs-FC between the right ventral striatum and the right occipital cortex and between the right putamen and the left precentral gyrus. Using multiple-modality brain imaging tools, we demonstrated the dysfunction of the striatum in CSU. Our results may provide valuable insights into the neuropathology and development of chronic itch.
We investigated brain functional alteration in patients with chronic cervical spondylosis neck pain (CSNP) compared to healthy controls (HCs) and the effect of intervention.
104 CSNP patients and 96 ...matched HCs were recruited. Patients received 4 weeks of treatment. Resting-state fMRI and Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) were collected before and after treatment. Resting state regional homogeneity (rs-ReHo) and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) were applied to (1) investigate rs-ReHo differences between CSNP patients and controls and the effect of longitudinal treatment and (2) classify CSNP patients from HCs and predict clinical outcomes before treatment using MVPA.
We found that (1) CSNP patients showed decreased rs-ReHo in the left sensorimotor cortex and right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ), and rs-ReHo at the rTPJ significantly increased after treatment; (2) rs-ReHo at rTPJ was associated with NPQ at baseline, and pre- and post-treatment rs-ReHo changes at rTPJ were associated with NPQ changes in CSNP patients; and (3) MVPA could discriminate CSNP patients from HCs with 72% accuracy and predict clinical outcomes with a mean absolute error of 19.6%.
CSNP patients are associated with dysfunction of the rTPJ and sensorimotor area.
rTPJ plays on important role in the pathophysiology and development of CSNP.
Subthreshold depression (StD) is associated with substantial functional impairments due to depressive symptoms that do not fully meet the diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD). Its high ...incidence in the general population and debilitating symptoms has recently put it at the forefront of mood disorder research.
In this study we investigated common volumetric brain changes in both young and middle-aged StD patients.
Two cohorts of StD patients, young and middle-aged, (
= 57) and matched controls (
= 76) underwent voxel-based morphometry (VBM).
VBM analysis found that: 1) compared with healthy controls, StD patients showed decreased gray matter volume (GMV) in the bilateral globus pallidus and precentral gyrus, as well as increased GMV in the left thalamus and right rostral anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex; 2) there is a significant association between Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale scores and the bilateral globus pallidus (negative) and left thalamus (positive); 3) there is no interaction between age (young vs. middle-age) and group (StD vs. controls).
Our findings indicate significant VBM brain changes in both young and middle-aged individuals with StD. Individuals with StD, regardless of age, may share common neural characteristics.
The striatum plays an important role in controlling motor function in humans, and its degeneration has the ability to cause severe motor disorders. More specifically, previous studies have ...demonstrated a disruption in the connectivity of the cortico-striatal loop in patients suffering from motor disorders caused by dopamine dysregulation, such as Parkinson's disease. However, little is known about striatal functional connectivity in patients with motor dysfunction not caused by dopamine dysregulation. In this study, we used early-state Bell's palsy (BP) patients (within 14 days of onset) to investigate how functional connectivity between the striatum and motor cortex is affected by peripheral nerve injury in which the dopamine system remains fully functional. We found a significant increase in the connectivity between the contralateral putamen, and the ipsilateral primary sensory (S1) and motor cortex (M1) in BP patients compared to healthy controls. We also found increased connectivity between the ventral striatum and supplementary motor area (SMA), and the dorsal caudate and medial prefrontal lobe in BP patients compared to healthy controls. Our results demonstrate that the entirety of the striatum is affected following acute peripheral nerve injury, and suggests that this disrupted striatal functional connectivity may reflect a compensatory mechanism for the sensory-motor mismatch caused by BP.
The influence of sex on the prevalence and clinical manifestations of functional dyspepsia (FD) has recently been a topic of increasing interest. However, brain MRI pathology based on sexual ...dimorphism in FD has not yet been investigated. The amygdala, which plays a vital role in processing gastrointestinal signals, may be associated with the sex-related pathophysiology of FD.
We investigated the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of amygdala subregions in patients with FD and healthy subjects as well as the sex differences between male and female FD patients.
The results showed that FD patients manifested altered rsFC in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and centromedial amygdala subregions compared with HS and that female FD patients showed increased BLA rsFC with the insula (INS) and decreased BLA rsFC with the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex compared with male FD patients and female HS.
Our findings suggest that FD females tend to have more severe dysfunction of cognitive-affective processing among the brain regions associated with the salience network, central executive network, and default mode network.
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