Wang Yifei, Yang Aocai, Song Zeyu, Chen Yu, Ma Guolin, Tang Xiaoying
School of Medical Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Haidian District, No. 5 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing, 100081, China.
Department of Radiology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, No. 2 East Yinghua Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, China.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2025 May 29. doi: 10.1007/s11682-025-01000-1.
Meige's syndrome (MS) is a neurologically disabling disorder characterized by visual impairment, mastication, and swallowing difficulties. Emerging evidence suggests that MS may stem from disturbances in brain networks. However, current literature inadequately probes the centrality and functional connectivity within these networks.
This study aims to compare the brain networks of MS patients with those of healthy controls (HC). We focus on examining changes in intrinsic connectivity, the significance of nodes within the global brain network, and functional network connectivity (FNC). Additionally, we seek to identify potential correlations between neuroimaging findings and clinical scales.
In this cross-sectional study, we employed centrality analysis and mediation analysis of brain networks using resting-state fMRI data. Voxel-level degree centrality (DC) and eigenvector centrality (EC) served as key features. Independent component analysis was utilized to assess functional connectivity at the network level.
Analyses of EC and DC identified abnormal areas in MS patients predominantly in the right thalamus, left middle occipital gyrus, and Cerebellum Inferior. Mediation analysis indicated that disease severity and course of disease are fully mediated by DC values in the right cerebellum. FNC results highlighted abnormal connections in cerebellar-subcortical, memory retrieval-cingulo-opercular task control, and ventral attention-sensory/somatomotor hand networks in MS patients.
Our findings reveal multiple abnormalities in centrality and functional connectivity of brain networks in MS patients. Notably, disease severity correlates with alterations in these, potentially influencing disease progression.
梅杰综合征（MS）是一种具有神经功能障碍的疾病，其特征为视力损害、咀嚼和吞咽困难。新出现的证据表明，MS可能源于脑网络紊乱。然而，目前的文献对这些网络中的中心性和功能连接性研究不足。
本研究旨在比较MS患者与健康对照（HC）的脑网络。我们专注于研究内在连接性的变化、全脑网络中节点的重要性以及功能网络连接性（FNC）。此外，我们试图确定神经影像学结果与临床量表之间的潜在相关性。
在这项横断面研究中，我们使用静息态功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据对脑网络进行中心性分析和中介分析。体素水平的度中心性（DC）和特征向量中心性（EC）作为关键特征。利用独立成分分析评估网络水平的功能连接性。
对EC和DC的分析确定MS患者的异常区域主要位于右侧丘脑、左侧枕中回和小脑下部。中介分析表明，疾病严重程度和病程完全由右侧小脑的DC值介导。FNC结果突出显示了MS患者在小脑-皮质下、记忆检索-扣带回-岛盖任务控制以及腹侧注意-感觉/躯体运动手部网络中的异常连接。
我们的研究结果揭示了MS患者脑网络在中心性和功能连接性方面的多种异常。值得注意的是，疾病严重程度与这些异常相关，可能影响疾病进展。
