Department of Radiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Department of Radiology, Affiliated Xinhua Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian 116001, China.
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Neuropsychological Department, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China.
Neurosci Lett. 2022 Jul 27;784:136720. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136720. Epub 2022 Jun 8.
Neuroimaging studies have shown structural deficits in the default mode network (DMN) in patients with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD); however, the functional basis of the DMN in NPD remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the functional basis of the DMN in NPD from the perspective of the connectome. Nineteen young male patients with NPD (mean age, 18.47 ± 0.77 years; range, 18-20 years) and 19 young male healthy control (HC) participants (mean age, 19.05 ± 1.31 years; range, 18-22 years) were recruited for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging examinations. The DMN architecture was depicted by 20 DMN subregions. Graph theory approaches were applied to investigate the functional topology within the DMN in NPD, and Pearson correlations between network parameters and psychological scores were assessed. The NPD group demonstrated topological anomalies in the DMN indicated by a decrease in the clustering coefficient and local efficiency compared with the HC group. Additionally, the NPD group showed increased nodal clustering and efficiency in the right posterior cingulate cortex. In the NPD group, local efficiency within the DMN was found to be positively correlated with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory score and negatively correlated the Hiding the Self score. The NPD group showed abnormal topology within the DMN, indicating that the functional segregation of the DMN is disturbed in NPD. The destroyed topology of the DMN may represent a functional basis of the pathogenesis of NPD in young adult males and may be related to the increased vulnerability in NPD, including hiding the self.
神经影像学研究表明，自恋型人格障碍（NPD）患者的默认模式网络（DMN）存在结构缺陷；然而，NPD 中 DMN 的功能基础仍不清楚。本研究旨在从连接组学的角度探讨 NPD 中 DMN 的功能基础。招募了 19 名年轻男性 NPD 患者（平均年龄 18.47±0.77 岁；范围 18-20 岁）和 19 名年轻男性健康对照组（HC）参与者（平均年龄 19.05±1.31 岁；范围 18-22 岁）进行静息态功能磁共振成像检查。通过 20 个 DMN 亚区描绘 DMN 结构。应用图论方法研究 NPD 中 DMN 的功能拓扑结构，并评估网络参数与心理评分之间的 Pearson 相关性。与 HC 组相比，NPD 组的 DMN 存在拓扑异常，表现为聚类系数和局部效率降低。此外，NPD 组的右侧后扣带回皮质的节点聚类和效率增加。在 NPD 组中，DMN 内的局部效率与自恋人格量表评分呈正相关，与隐藏自我评分呈负相关。NPD 组 DMN 内存在异常拓扑结构，表明 NPD 中 DMN 的功能分离受到干扰。DMN 的破坏拓扑结构可能代表年轻男性 NPD 发病机制的功能基础，可能与 NPD 中增加的脆弱性有关，包括隐藏自我。
