Abnormal degree centrality in first-episode medication-free adolescent depression at rest: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study and support vector machine analysis

Abnormal degree centrality as a potential imaging biomarker for ischemic stroke: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

OBJECTIVE

To explore degree centrality (DC) abnormalities in ischemic stroke patients and determine whether these abnormalities have potential value in understanding the pathological mechanisms of ischemic stroke patients.

METHODS

Sixteen ischemic stroke patients and 22 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning, and the resulting data were subjected to DC analysis. Then we conducted a correlation analysis between DC values and neuropsychological test scores, including Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Finally, extracted the abnormal DC values of brain regions and defined them as features for support vector machine (SVM) analysis.

RESULTS

Compared with HCs, ischemic stroke patients showed increased DC in the bilateral supplementary motor area, and median cingulate and paracingulate gyri and decreased DC in the left postcentral gyrus, right calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex, lingual gyrus, and orbital parts of the right superior frontal gyrus and bilateral cuneus. Correlation analyses revealed that DC values in the right lingual gyrus, calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex, and orbital parts of the right superior frontal gyrus were positively correlated with the MMSE scores. The SVM classification of the DC values achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.93, an accuracy of 89.47%.

CONCLUSION

Our research results indicate that ischemic stroke patients exhibit abnormalities in the global connectivity mechanisms and patterns of the brain network. These abnormal changes may provide neuroimaging evidence for stroke-related motor, visual, and cognitive impairments, contribute to a deeper comprehension of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms implicated in ischemic stroke.

Frontoparietal network homogeneity as a biomarker for mania and remitted bipolar disorder and a predictor of early treatment response in bipolar mania patient

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies have revealed the frontoparietal network (FPN) plays a key role in the imaging pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD). However, network homogeneity (NH) in the FPN among bipolar mania (BipM), remitted bipolar disorder (rBD), and healthy controls (HCs) remains unknown. The present study aimed to explore whether NH within the FPN can be used as an imaging biomarker to differentiate BipM from rBD and to predict treatment efficacy for patients with BipM.

METHODS

Sixty-six patients with BD (38 BipM and 28 rBD) and 60 HCs participated in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological tests. Independent component analysis and NH analysis were applied to analyze the imaging data.

RESULTS

Relative to HCs, BipM patients displayed increased NH in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and rBD patients displayed increased NH in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Compared to rBD patients, BipM patients displayed reduced NH in the right IPL. Furthermore, support vector machine results exhibited that NH values in the right IPL could distinguish BipM patients from rBD patients with 69.70 %, 57.89 %, and 91.67 % for accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, respectively, and support vector regression results exhibited a significant association between predicted and actual symptomatic improvement based on the reduction ratio of the Young` Mania Rating Scale total scores (r = 0.466, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The study demonstrated distinct NH values in the FPN could serve as a valuable neuroimaging biomarker capable of differentiating patients with BipM and rBD, and NH values of the left MFG as a potential predictor of early treatment response in patients with BipM.

Regions with Altered Degree Centrality and Their Functional Connectivity in First-Episode Drug-Naïve Major Depressive Disorder: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify regions with altered degrees of centrality (DC) and changes in their functional connectivity (FC) in first-episode drug-naïve major depressive disorder (FEDN-MDD) patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods

The study included 74 FEDN-MDD patients who met the study criteria and 41 healthy controls (HCs). All had undergone fMRI scanning in the resting condition. To evaluate differences between FEDN-MDD patients and HCs, we first compared the DC between the 2 groups. The DC regions with the most significant differences were then taken as seeds, and their FC was calculated.

Results

Right posterior cingulum cortex (PCC.R), right precuneus (PCUN.R), and right putamen (PUT.R) all showed significantly different DC values (P < .001) between FEDN-MDD patients and HC groups, which helped in distinguishing these groups. The PUT.R in FEDN-MDD patients showed increased FC (P < .001) with the right inferior temporal gyrus and right inferior occipital gyrus compared to HC. Moreover, the PCUN.R in FEDN-MDD patients showed decreased FC (P < .001) with bilateral cerebellum crus I, left cerebellum crus II, bilateral orbital medial frontal gyrus, right superior medial frontal gyrus, left precuneus, left posterior cingulum cortex, right superior frontal gyrus, and PCC.R compared with the HC group. The P-values for cluster testing were .050, while for voxel testing they were .001.

Conclusion

These findings imply that PUT.R, PCUN.R, and PCC.R serve as the core brain net hub in FEDN-MDD patients, and their FC displays aberrant function. This may involve a specific psychiatric neuropathology associated with FEDN-MDD.

Decreased degree centrality values as a potential neuroimaging biomarker for migraine: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study and support vector machine analysis

Objective

Misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of migraine are common in clinical practice. Currently, the pathophysiological mechanism of migraine is not completely known, and its imaging pathological mechanism has rarely been reported. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology combined with a support vector machine (SVM) was employed to study the imaging pathological mechanism of migraine to improve the diagnostic accuracy of migraine.

Methods

We randomly recruited 28 migraine patients from Taihe Hospital. In addition, 27 healthy controls were randomly recruited through advertisements. All patients had undergone the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS), Headache Impact Test - 6 (HIT-6), and 15 min magnetic resonance scanning. We ran DPABI (RRID: SCR_010501) on MATLAB (RRID: SCR_001622) to preprocess the data and used REST (RRID: SCR_009641) to calculate the degree centrality (DC) value of the brain region and SVM (RRID: SCR_010243) to classify the data.

Results

Compared with the healthy controls (HCs), the DC value of bilateral inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) in patients with migraine was significantly lower and that of left ITG showed a positive linear correlation with MIDAS scores. The SVM results showed that the DC value of left ITG has the potential to be a diagnostic biomarker for imaging, with the highest diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for patients with migraine of 81.82, 85.71, and 77.78%, respectively.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrate abnormal DC values in the bilateral ITG among patients with migraine, and the present results provide insights into the neural mechanism of migraines. The abnormal DC values can be used as a potential neuroimaging biomarker for the diagnosis of migraine.

Abnormal amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation values as a neuroimaging biomarker for major depressive disorder with suicidal attempts in adolescents: A resting-state fMRI and support vector machine analysis

Objective

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with suicidal attempts (SAs) among adolescents, with suicide being the most common cause of mortality in this age group. This study explored the predictive utility of support vector machine (SVM)-based analyses of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) results as a neuroimaging biomarker for aiding the diagnosis of MDD with SA in adolescents.

Methods

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) analyses of 71 first-episode, drug-naive adolescent MDD patients with SA and 54 healthy control individuals were conducted. ALFF and SVM methods were used to analyze the imaging data.

Results

Relative to healthy control individuals, adolescent MDD patients with a history of SAs showed reduced ALFF values in the bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG) and bilateral precuneus. These lower ALFF values were also negatively correlated with child depression inventory (CDI) scores while reduced bilateral precuneus ALFF values were negatively correlated with Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire Junior (SIQ-JR) scores. SVM analyses showed that reduced ALFF values in the bilateral mSFG and bilateral precuneus had diagnostic accuracy levels of 76.8% (96/125) and 82.4% (103/125), respectively.

Conclusion

Adolescent MDD patients with a history of SA exhibited abnormal ALFF. The identified abnormalities in specific brain regions may be involved in the pathogenesis of this condition and may help identify at-risk adolescents. Specifically, reductions in the ALFF in the bilateral mSFG and bilateral precuneus may be indicative of MDD and SA in adolescent patients.

Abnormal hubs in global network as potential neuroimaging marker in generalized anxiety disorder at rest

Background

Mounting studies have reported altered neuroimaging features in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, little is known about changes in degree centrality (DC) as an effective diagnostic method for GAD. Therefore, we aimed to explore the abnormality of DCs and whether these features can be used in the diagnosis of GAD.

Methods

Forty-one GAD patients and 45 healthy controls participated in the study. Imaging data were analyzed using DC and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methods.

Results

Compared with the control group, increased DC values in bilateral cerebellum and left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and decreased DC values in the left medial frontal orbital gyrus (MFOG), fusiform gyrus (FG), and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The ROC results showed that the DC value of the left MTG could serve as a potential neuroimaging marker with high sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing patients from healthy controls.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrate that abnormal DCs in the left MTG can be observed in GAD, highlighting the importance of GAD pathophysiology.