Center for Brain Imaging, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710126, China.
Engineering Research Center of Molecular and Neuro Imaging Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710071, China.
Curr Neuropharmacol. 2024;22(6):1144-1153. doi: 10.2174/1570159X21666221129105408.
Brain recovery phenomenon after long-term abstinence had been reported in substance use disorders. Yet, few longitudinal studies have been conducted to observe the abnormal dynamic functional connectivity (dFNC) of large-scale brain networks and recovery after prolonged abstinence in heroin users.
The current study will explore the brain network dynamic connection reconfigurations after prolonged abstinence in heroin users (HUs).
The 10-month longitudinal design was carried out for 40 HUs. The 40 healthy controls (HCs) were also enrolled. Group independent component analysis (GICA) and dFNC analysis were employed to detect the different dFNC patterns of addiction-related ICNs between HUs and HCs. The temporal properties and the graph-theoretical properties were calculated. Whether the abnormalities would be reconfigured in HUs after prolonged abstinence was then investigated.
Based on eight functional networks extracted from GICA, four states were identified by the dFNC analysis. Lower mean dwell time and fraction rate in state4 were found for HUs, which were increased toward HCs after prolonged abstinence. In this state, HUs at baseline showed higher dFNC of RECN-aSN, aSN- aSN and dDMN-pSN, which decreased after protracted abstinence. A similar recovery phenomenon was found for the global efficiency and path length in abstinence HUs. Mean while, the abnormal dFNC strength was correlated with craving both at baseline and after abstinence.
Our longitudinal study observed the large-scale brain network reconfiguration from the dynamic perspective in HUs after prolonged abstinence and improved the understanding of the neurobiology of prolonged abstinence in HUs.
物质使用障碍患者在长期戒断后出现大脑恢复现象已有报道。然而，很少有纵向研究观察到长期戒断后成瘾者大脑网络的异常动态功能连接（dFNC）和恢复情况。
本研究旨在探讨长期戒断后海洛因使用者（HUs）大脑网络动态连接的重新配置。
采用 10 个月的纵向设计，纳入 40 名 HUs 和 40 名健康对照者（HCs）。采用组独立成分分析（GICA）和 dFNC 分析检测 HUs 和 HCs 成瘾相关 ICNs 的不同 dFNC 模式。计算时间特性和图论特性。然后探讨长期戒断后 HUs 中是否会重新配置异常。
基于 GICA 提取的八个功能网络，通过 dFNC 分析确定了四个状态。与 HCs 相比，HUs 的状态 4 的平均停留时间和分数率较低，在长期戒断后，这些指标向 HCs 增加。在该状态下，基线时 HUs 的 RECN-aSN、aSN-aSN 和 dDMN-pSN 的 dFNC 较高，在戒断后下降。在戒断 HUs 中，全局效率和路径长度也出现了类似的恢复现象。同时，基线和戒断后，异常的 dFNC 强度与渴求相关。
本纵向研究从动态角度观察了长期戒断后 HUs 大脑网络的重新配置，增进了对 HUs 长期戒断神经生物学的理解。
