Ma Xiaobo, Li Wei, Wang Qian, He Xueying, Qu Xiaoxia, Li Ting, Zhang Lirong, Liu Zhaohui
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Beijing, China.
Department of Radiology, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Beijing, China.
Ann Transl Med. 2022 Jun;10(12):690. doi: 10.21037/atm-22-2135.
Hearing loss and tinnitus often occur concurrently and play a vital role in the development and progression of cognitive impairment (CI). However, the exact mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the changes in intrinsic brain connectivity in patients with hearing loss and tinnitus accompanied by CI.
A total of 24 hearing loss and tinnitus patients with CI, 23 hearing loss and tinnitus patients with cognitive normality (CN), and 20 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Resting-state networks (RSNs) were identified and intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) values were measured using independent component analysis (ICA). FC values within the RSNs were measured and correlations between altered RSNs and clinical characteristics were evaluated using Pearson correlation analysis.
No significant difference was found in the disease duration or Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) scores between the CI and CN groups. Eleven RSNs differed significantly among the 3 groups. Compared with the CN group, the CI group exhibited higher FC in the right supramarginal and left middle temporal gyri within the auditory network (AN), the left inferior parietal, but supramarginal and angular gyrus (IPL) gyrus within the right frontoparietal network (RFPN), the right middle occipital gyrus (R_MOG) and left superior frontal gyrus (L_SFG) within the dorsal attention network (DAN), the right middle frontal gyrus (R_MFG) within the executive control network (ECN), the right cuneus (R_cuneus) within the visual network (VN), and the left inferior frontal gyrus within the salience network (SAN), as well as lower FC in the right superior temporal gyrus (R_STG) within the AN and the left FPN (LFPN) and the right superior frontal gyrus (R_SFG) within the LFPN. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were negatively correlated with the FC values of the R_MFG and positively correlated with the FC values of the R_STG and R_SFG.
Aberrant intrinsic FC was observed in the R_MFG within the ECN, the R_STG within the AN, and the R_SFG within the LFPN in hearing loss and tinnitus patients, which may be a biomarker for the severity of CI in hearing loss and tinnitus patients.
听力损失和耳鸣常同时出现，并在认知障碍（CI）的发生和发展中起重要作用。然而，确切机制仍不清楚。本研究旨在调查伴有CI的听力损失和耳鸣患者脑内固有连接性的变化。
共有24例伴有CI的听力损失和耳鸣患者、23例认知正常（CN）的听力损失和耳鸣患者以及20名健康对照者（HCs）接受了静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）检查。通过独立成分分析（ICA）识别静息态网络（RSNs）并测量固有功能连接（FC）值。测量RSNs内的FC值，并使用Pearson相关分析评估改变的RSNs与临床特征之间的相关性。
CI组和CN组在病程或耳鸣 handicap 量表（THI）评分上无显著差异。3组之间有11个RSNs存在显著差异。与CN组相比，CI组在听觉网络（AN）内的右侧缘上回和左侧颞中回、右侧额顶叶网络（RFPN）内的左侧顶下小叶但缘上回和角回（IPL）回、背侧注意网络（DAN）内的右侧枕中回（R_MOG）和左侧额上回（L_SFG）、执行控制网络（ECN）内的右侧额中回（R_MFG）、视觉网络（VN）内的右侧楔叶（R_cuneus）以及突显网络（SAN）内的左侧额下回表现出更高的FC，而在AN内的右侧颞上回（R_STG）以及左侧额顶叶网络（LFPN）和LFPN内的右侧额上回（R_SFG）表现出更低的FC。蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA）评分与R_MFG的FC值呈负相关，与R_STG和R_SFG的FC值呈正相关。
在听力损失和耳鸣患者中，观察到执行控制网络内的R_MFG、听觉网络内的R_STG以及左侧额顶叶网络内的R_SFG存在异常的固有FC，这可能是听力损失和耳鸣患者CI严重程度的生物标志物。
