Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Neurobiol Aging. 2023 Apr;124:29-38. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.01.004. Epub 2023 Jan 11.
Graph theory is a novel approach used to examine the balance of brain connectomes. However, the clinical relevance of white matter (WM) connectome changes in the behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is not well understood. We aimed to investigate the clinical relevance of WM topological alterations in bvFTD. Thirty patients with probable bvFTD and 30 healthy controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging, structural MRI, and neuropsychological assessment. WM connectivity between 90 brain regions was calculated and the graph approach was applied to capture the individual characteristics of the anatomical network. Voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics were used to present the gray matter atrophy and disrupted WM integrity. The topological organization was disrupted in patients with bvFTD both globally and locally. Compared to controls, bvFTD data showed a different pattern of hub region distributions. Notably, the nodal efficiency of the right superior orbital frontal gyrus was associated with apathy and disinhibition. Topological measures may be potential image markers for early diagnosis and disease severity monitoring of bvFTD.
图论是一种用于研究脑连接组平衡的新方法。然而，行为变异额颞叶痴呆（bvFTD）中白质（WM）连接组变化的临床相关性尚不清楚。我们旨在研究 bvFTD 中 WM 拓扑改变的临床相关性。30 名可能患有 bvFTD 的患者和 30 名健康对照者接受了弥散张量成像、结构磁共振成像和神经心理学评估。计算了 90 个脑区之间的 WM 连接，并应用图论方法捕捉解剖网络的个体特征。体素基于形态学和基于束的空间统计学用于呈现灰质萎缩和 WM 完整性中断。bvFTD 患者的拓扑组织在全局和局部均受到破坏。与对照组相比，bvFTD 数据显示出不同的枢纽区域分布模式。值得注意的是，右侧上眶额回的节点效率与淡漠和去抑制有关。拓扑测量可能是 bvFTD 早期诊断和疾病严重程度监测的潜在影像标志物。
