Differences in Functional Brain Networks Between Subjective Cognitive Decline with and without Worry Groups: A Graph Theory Study from SILCODE

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Liu, Yi^{a; 1} | Li, Zhuoyuan^{b; 1} | Jiang, Xueyan^{c; f} | Du, Wenying^a | Wang, Xiaoqi^a | Sheng, Can^a | Jiang, Jiehui^{b; *} | Han, Ying^{a; c; d; e; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China | [b] Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Communication and Information Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China | [c] Biomedical Engineering Institute, Hainan University, Haikou, China | [d] Center of Alzheimer’s Disease, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China | [e] National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Beijing, China | [f] German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease, Clinical Research Group, Bonn, Germany

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Ying Han, Department of Neurology, XuanWu Hospital of Capital Medical University, No.45 Changchun Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China. Tel.: +86 13621011941; E-mail: [email protected]; and Jiehui Jiang, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, School of Communication and Information Engineering, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai 200444, China. Tel.: +86 021 66135299;[email protected].

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Background:Evidence suggests that subjective cognitive decline (SCD) individuals with worry have a higher risk of cognitive decline. However, how SCD-related worry influences the functional brain network is still unknown. Objective:In this study, we aimed to explore the differences in functional brain networks between SCD subjects with and without worry. Methods:A total of 228 participants were enrolled from the Sino Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Decline (SILCODE), including 39 normal control (NC) subjects, 117 SCD subjects with worry, and 72 SCD subjects without worry. All subjects completed neuropsychological assessments, APOE genotyping, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Graph theory was applied for functional brain network analysis based on both the whole brain and default mode network (DMN). Parameters including the clustering coefficient, shortest path length, local efficiency, and global efficiency were calculated. Two-sample T-tests and chi-square tests were used to analyze differences between two groups. In addition, a false discovery rate-corrected post hoc test was applied. Results:Our analysis showed that compared to the SCD without worry group, SCD with worry group had significantly increased functional connectivity and shortest path length (p = 0.002) and a decreased clustering coefficient (p = 0.013), global efficiency (p = 0.001), and local efficiency (p < 0.001). The above results appeared in both the whole brain and DMN. Conclusion:There were significant differences in functional brain networks between SCD individuals with and without worry. We speculated that worry might result in alterations of the functional brain network for SCD individuals and then result in a higher risk of cognitive decline.

Keywords: Functional connectivity, functional MRI, graph theory, subjective cognitive decline, worry

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-215156

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 84, no. 3, pp. 1279-1289, 2021