Zhang Si, Hu Junhao, Fan Weijie, Liu Bo, Wen Li, Wang Guangxian, Gong Mingfu, Yang Chunyan, Zhang Dong
Department of Radiology, Xinqiao Hosptial, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Front Cell Neurosci. 2018 Nov 26;12:454. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2018.00454. eCollection 2018.
: Early postmenopausal women frequently suffer from cognitive impairments and emotional disorders, such as lack of attention, poor memory, deficits in executive function and depression. However, the underlying mechanisms of these impairments remain unclear. : Forty-three early postmenopausal women and forty-four age-matched premenopausal controls underwent serum sex hormone analysis, neuropsychological testing and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Degree centrality (DC) analysis was performed to confirm the peak points of the functionally abnormal brain areas as the centers of the seeds. Subsequently, the functional connectivity (FC) between these abnormal seeds and other voxels across the whole brain was calculated. Finally, the sex hormone levels, neuroimaging indices and neuropsychological data were combined to detect potential correlations. : Compared with the premenopausal controls, the early postmenopausal women exhibited significantly higher serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels, more severe climacteric and depressive symptoms, worse sleep quality and more extensive cognitive impairments. Concurrently, the neuroimaging results showed elevated DC values in the left amygdala (AMYG.L), reduced DC values in the left middle occipital gyrus (MOG.L) and right middle occipital gyrus (MOG.R). When we used the AMYG.L as the seed point, FC with the left insula (INS.L), bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and right superior frontal gyrus (SFG.R) was increased; these regions are related to depressive states, poor sleep quality and decreased executive function. When bilateral MOG were used as the seed points, FC with left inferior parietal gyrus (IPG.L), this area closely associated with impaired memory, was decreased. : These results illuminated the regional and network-level brain dysfunction in early postmenopausal women, which might provide information on the underlying mechanisms of the different cognitive impairments and emotional alterations observed in this group.
绝经早期女性经常遭受认知障碍和情绪障碍，如注意力不集中、记忆力差、执行功能缺陷和抑郁。然而，这些障碍的潜在机制仍不清楚。43名绝经早期女性和44名年龄匹配的绝经前对照者接受了血清性激素分析、神经心理学测试和静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）。进行度中心性（DC）分析以确认功能异常脑区的峰值点作为种子中心。随后，计算这些异常种子与全脑其他体素之间的功能连接（FC）。最后，将性激素水平、神经影像学指标和神经心理学数据相结合以检测潜在的相关性。与绝经前对照者相比，绝经早期女性表现出显著更高的血清促卵泡激素（FSH）水平、更严重的更年期症状和抑郁症状、更差的睡眠质量以及更广泛的认知障碍。同时，神经影像学结果显示左侧杏仁核（AMYG.L）的DC值升高，左侧枕中回（MOG.L）和右侧枕中回（MOG.R）的DC值降低。当我们将AMYG.L作为种子点时，与左侧岛叶（INS.L）、双侧前额叶皮质（PFC）和右侧额上回（SFG.R）的FC增加；这些区域与抑郁状态、睡眠质量差和执行功能下降有关。当将双侧MOG作为种子点时，与左侧顶下小叶（IPG.L）的FC降低，该区域与记忆受损密切相关。这些结果揭示了绝经早期女性区域和网络水平的脑功能障碍，这可能为该组中观察到的不同认知障碍和情绪改变的潜在机制提供信息。
