Li Kangzhi, Ling Xia, Zhao Jing, Wang Zhiqun, Yang Xu
Department of Neurology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Department of Neurology, Aerospace Center Hospital, Peking University Aerospace School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Commun Biol. 2025 Jan 25;8(1):122. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07375-z.
Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD) is a common cause of chronic vestibular syndrome. Although previous studies have identified central abnormalities in PPPD, the specific neural circuits and the alterations in brain network topological properties, and their association with dizziness and postural instability in PPPD remain unclear. This study includes 30 PPPD patients and 30 healthy controls. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging is used to construct whole-brain functional connectivity matrices, followed by network-based statistic and graph theoretical analysis. Network-based statistic results reveal an abnormal neural network in PPPD patients with key nodes in the occipital visual cortex, precuneus, sensorimotor cortex, multisensory vestibular cortex and cerebellum. The graph theoretical analysis shows less efficient information transmission at both local and global levels, indicating a state of disconnection between regions of the brain network. Decreased connections between the visual cortex, sensorimotor cortex, and multisensory vestibular cortex, and changes in brain network topological properties are correlated with the Dizziness Handicap Inventory score. Our study unveils the potential abnormal neural circuits, with the presence of multisensory and sensorimotor integration abnormalities and reveals altered brain network topological properties in PPPD patients. Our findings provide new insights for understanding the neural mechanisms of PPPD.
持续性姿势-感知性头晕（PPPD）是慢性前庭综合征的常见病因。尽管先前的研究已确定PPPD存在中枢异常，但具体的神经回路、脑网络拓扑属性的改变及其与PPPD中头晕和姿势不稳的关联仍不清楚。本研究纳入了30例PPPD患者和30名健康对照者。采用静息态功能磁共振成像构建全脑功能连接矩阵，随后进行基于网络的统计分析和图论分析。基于网络的统计结果显示，PPPD患者存在异常神经网络，关键节点位于枕叶视觉皮层、楔前叶、感觉运动皮层、多感觉前庭皮层和小脑。图论分析表明，在局部和全局水平上信息传递效率均较低，表明脑网络区域之间存在断开状态。视觉皮层、感觉运动皮层和多感觉前庭皮层之间的连接减少，以及脑网络拓扑属性的变化与头晕残障量表得分相关。我们的研究揭示了潜在的异常神经回路，存在多感觉和感觉运动整合异常，并揭示了PPPD患者脑网络拓扑属性的改变。我们的研究结果为理解PPPD的神经机制提供了新的见解。
