School of Medical Imaging, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China; Key Laboratory of Endocrine Glucose & Lipids Metabolism and Brain Aging, Ministry of Education, Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Jinan Maternity and Child Care Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Neurobiol Dis. 2024 Nov;202:106716. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2024.106716. Epub 2024 Oct 26.
Although the amygdala is associated with cognitive impairment resulting from cerebral small vessel disease, the relationship between alterations in amygdala structure and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) remains controversial. Given that the amygdala comprises several subregions, detecting subtle regional changes through total amygdala volume measurement is challenging. This study aimed to identify the patterns of amygdala subregion atrophy in cerebral small vessel disease patients and their relationship with cognitive impairment. A total of 114 participants diagnosed with cerebral small vessel disease and 129 healthy participants, aged 40 to 70, underwent 3 T magnetic resonance imaging scans. The amygdala subregions were automatically segmented using FreeSurfer. In the Propensity Score Matching (PSM)-matched cohort, Lasso regression was employed to identify subregions associated with cerebral small vessel disease, and restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to explore their nonlinear relationship with cognitive abilities. Subsequently, multivariate linear regression models were used to investigate the impact of amygdala subregion volumes on various cognitive abilities. Compared to healthy controls (HC), the volume of the left cortical nucleus was significantly reduced in cerebral small vessel disease patients. The volume of the left cortical nucleus was significantly negatively correlated with cerebral small vessel disease progression, and atrophy in this region was also identified as an independent risk factor for decreased cognitive control and processing ability. Our findings suggest that patients with cerebral small vessel disease exhibit atrophy in specific amygdala subregions compared to healthy controls, which correlates with poorer cognitive control and processing abilities. These insights may advance our understanding of the pathogenesis of cerebral small vessel disease.
尽管杏仁核与脑小血管疾病导致的认知障碍有关，但杏仁核结构改变与脑小血管疾病（CSVD）之间的关系仍存在争议。由于杏仁核包含几个亚区，通过总杏仁核体积测量来检测细微的区域性变化具有挑战性。本研究旨在确定脑小血管疾病患者杏仁核亚区萎缩的模式及其与认知障碍的关系。共纳入 114 名经诊断患有脑小血管疾病和 129 名年龄在 40 至 70 岁之间的健康参与者，进行了 3T 磁共振成像扫描。使用 FreeSurfer 自动分割杏仁核亚区。在倾向评分匹配（PSM）匹配队列中，使用 Lasso 回归识别与脑小血管疾病相关的亚区，并使用受限立方样条（RCS）探索它们与认知能力的非线性关系。随后，使用多元线性回归模型研究杏仁核亚区体积对各种认知能力的影响。与健康对照组（HC）相比，脑小血管疾病患者的左侧皮质核体积显著减小。左侧皮质核体积与脑小血管疾病进展呈显著负相关，该区域的萎缩也被确定为认知控制和处理能力下降的独立危险因素。我们的研究结果表明，与健康对照组相比，脑小血管疾病患者的特定杏仁核亚区存在萎缩，与较差的认知控制和处理能力相关。这些发现可能有助于深入了解脑小血管疾病的发病机制。
