Acharya Alaka, Ren Peng, Yi Liye, Tian Weiming, Liang Xia
School of Life Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
Front Neurosci. 2023 Jan 11;16:1006231. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1006231. eCollection 2022.
Subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI) is associated with structural and functional changes in the cerebral cortex affecting major brain networks. While recent studies have shown that the intrinsic cerebral connectivity networks can be mapped onto the cerebellum, and the cortex and cerebellum are interconnected the cortico-basal ganglia-cerebellar circuit, structural and functional disruptions in cerebellum in svMCI are rarely studied. In this study, we conducted voxel-based morphometry analysis to investigate gray matter atrophy pattern across cerebellar regions in 40 svMCI patients, and explored alterations in functional connectivity between the basal ganglia and cerebellum. The results showed that the amount of cerebellar atrophy within the default mode, salience, and frontoparietal networks correlated with their counterpart in the cerebral cortex. Moreover, key regions of the cerebellum, including the lobule VI, VIIb, VIII, and Crus I, which are reported to have a role in cognitive function, showed both anatomical atrophy and decreased functional connectivity with the striatum. These atrophy and connectivity patterns in the cerebellum also correlated with memory performances. These findings demonstrate that there are coupled changes in cerebral and cerebellar circuits, reflecting that degeneration patterns in svMCI are not limited to the cerebral cortex but similarly extend to the cerebellum as well, and suggest the cortico-basal ganglia-cerebellar circuit may play an important role in the pathology of svMCI.
皮质下血管性轻度认知障碍（svMCI）与影响主要脑网络的大脑皮质结构和功能变化相关。虽然最近的研究表明，大脑内在连接网络可映射到小脑，且皮质和小脑通过皮质-基底神经节-小脑回路相互连接，但很少有研究探讨svMCI患者小脑中的结构和功能破坏情况。在本研究中，我们进行了基于体素的形态学分析，以研究40例svMCI患者小脑各区域的灰质萎缩模式，并探索基底神经节与小脑之间功能连接的改变。结果显示，默认模式网络、突显网络和额顶叶网络内的小脑萎缩程度与其在大脑皮质中的对应区域相关。此外，据报道在认知功能中起作用的小脑关键区域，包括小叶VI、VIIb、VIII和小脑脚I，既表现出解剖学萎缩，与纹状体的功能连接也减少。小脑中的这些萎缩和连接模式也与记忆表现相关。这些发现表明，大脑和小脑回路存在耦合变化，反映出svMCI的退化模式不仅局限于大脑皮质，同样也延伸至小脑，并提示皮质-基底神经节-小脑回路可能在svMCI的病理过程中起重要作用。
