Zhang Dan, Zhou Zai-Long, Xing Ting, Zhou Mei-Yu, Wan Ye-Ming, Chang Shu-Chen, Wang Ya-Li, Qian Hai-Hua
Department of Anorectal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
No. 1 Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
Front Neurosci. 2022 Jul 22;16:957620. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.957620. eCollection 2022.
Functional constipation (FCon), is a symptom-based functional gastrointestinal disorder without an organic etiology and altering brain structure and function. However, previous studies mainly focused on isolated brain regions involved in brain plasticity. Therefore, little is known about the altered large-scale interaction of brain networks in FCon.
For this study, we recruited 20 patients with FCon and 20 healthy controls. We used group independent component analysis to identify resting-state networks (RSNs) and documented intra- and inter-network alterations in the RSNs of the patients with FCon.
We found 14 independent RSNs. Differences in the intra-networks included decreased activities in the bilateral caudate of RSN 3 (strongly related to emotional and autonomic processes) and decreased activities in the left precuneus of RSN 10 (default mode network). Notably, the patients with FCon exhibited significantly decreased interactive connectivity between RSNs, mostly involving the connections to the visual perception network (RSN 7-9).
Compared with healthy controls, patients with FCon had extensive brain plastic changes within and across related RSNs. Furthermore, the macroscopic brain alterations in FCon were associated with interoceptive abilities, emotion processing, and sensorimotor control. These insights could therefore lead to the development of new treatment strategies for FCon.
功能性便秘（FCon）是一种基于症状的功能性胃肠疾病，没有器质性病因，且会改变大脑结构和功能。然而，以往研究主要集中在参与大脑可塑性的孤立脑区。因此，对于FCon中大脑网络大规模相互作用的改变知之甚少。
在本研究中，我们招募了20名FCon患者和20名健康对照者。我们使用组独立成分分析来识别静息态网络（RSN），并记录FCon患者RSN内和网络间的改变。
我们发现了14个独立的RSN。网络内差异包括RSN 3（与情绪和自主过程密切相关）双侧尾状核活动降低以及RSN 10（默认模式网络）左侧楔前叶活动降低。值得注意的是，FCon患者RSN之间的交互连接显著降低，主要涉及与视觉感知网络（RSN 7-9）的连接。
与健康对照者相比，FCon患者在相关RSN内和跨RSN存在广泛的大脑可塑性变化。此外，FCon中的宏观大脑改变与内感受能力、情绪处理和感觉运动控制有关。因此，这些见解可能会导致开发针对FCon的新治疗策略。
