Han Shuting, Shen Yongcong, Wu Xiaojuan, Dai Hui, Li Yonggang, Liu Jisheng, Tao Duo-Duo
Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat, The First Affiliated of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Eur J Neurosci. 2025 Jan;61(1):e16643. doi: 10.1111/ejn.16643.
This study aimed to investigate the topological properties of brain functional networks in patients with tinnitus of varying durations. A total of 51 tinnitus patients (divided into recent-onset tinnitus (ROT) and persistent tinnitus (PT) groups) and 27 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. All participants underwent resting-state functional MRI and audiological assessments. Graph theory was used to examine brain network topology. The results showed that the ROT group exhibited lower clustering coefficient, gamma, sigma and local efficiency compared to both the HC and PT groups (all P < 0.05). Significant reductions in nodal clustering coefficient and local efficiency were found in the left caudate nucleus and left olfactory cortex, while increased nodal centralities were observed in the left orbital middle frontal gyrus and left postcentral gyrus in ROT patients (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, the ROT group had decreased nodal clustering in the right lenticular putamen and reduced nodal efficiency in the left olfactory cortex compared to both PT patients and HCs (all P < 0.05). Additionally, PT patients showed weaker functional connectivity between the subcortical and occipital lobe modules, as well as between the prefrontal and intra-frontal modules, compared to ROT patients. However, intra-module connectivity in the subcortical module was stronger in PT patients than in HCs. These findings suggest that recent-onset tinnitus is associated with alterations in brain network topology, but many of these changes are restored with the persistence of tinnitus.
本研究旨在调查不同病程耳鸣患者脑功能网络的拓扑特性。共招募了51名耳鸣患者（分为新发耳鸣（ROT）组和持续性耳鸣（PT）组）以及27名健康对照者（HC）。所有参与者均接受静息态功能磁共振成像和听力学评估。采用图论来检查脑网络拓扑结构。结果显示，与HC组和PT组相比，ROT组的聚类系数、γ、σ和局部效率较低（所有P < 0.05）。在ROT患者中，左侧尾状核和左侧嗅觉皮层的节点聚类系数和局部效率显著降低，而左侧眶额中回和左侧中央后回的节点中心性增加（所有P < 0.05）。此外，与PT患者和HC组相比，ROT组右侧豆状核壳核的节点聚类减少，左侧嗅觉皮层的节点效率降低（所有P < 0.05）。此外，与ROT患者相比，PT患者在皮层下和枕叶模块之间以及前额叶和额内模块之间的功能连接较弱。然而，PT患者皮层下模块的模块内连接比HC组更强。这些发现表明，新发耳鸣与脑网络拓扑结构的改变有关，但随着耳鸣的持续，许多这些变化会恢复。
