Nie Jiajia, Qi Li, Wu Pan, Li Chao, Du Baogen, Chen Chen, Cao Shanshan, Wei Qiang, Wang Kai, Wei Ling, Tian Yanghua
Department of Psychology and Sleep Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 230022, Hefei, China.
Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 230022, Hefei, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 2;15(1):23655. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-07462-z.
Moyamoya disease (MMD) has been reported to be associated with a wide range of structural and functional abnormalities of bilateral hemispheres. However, whether the interhemisphere functional connectivity (FC) of MMD patients is altered and its relationship with cognitive impairments still remain unclear. A total of 20 patients with MMD and 25 healthy subjects were included, matched based on age, sex, and level of education. All participants were given cognitive assessments, and the whole-brain voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) was derived through rs-fMRI analysis. The study utilized Pearson correlation analysis to examine the relationship between VMHC values and neuropsychological test results. Compared to the healthy controls, patients with MMD exhibited significantly lower VMHC in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG), orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFGorb), postcentral gyrus (PoCG) and angular gyrus (AG). Furthermore, following Pearson correction, a significant positive correlation was found between the recognition section scores of the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) and the VMHC value for the PoCG and AG in MMD patients. This study is limited by its small sample size and cross-sectional design, which preclude the establishment of causal relationships between imaging indicators and clinical symptoms. These results suggest that VMHC analysis offers valuable insights into potential bilateral brain functional activity in MMD subjects, providing new perspectives on the neuroimaging mechanisms associated with cognitive decline, particularly memory impairment.
据报道，烟雾病（MMD）与双侧半球的多种结构和功能异常有关。然而，MMD患者的半球间功能连接（FC）是否改变及其与认知障碍的关系仍不清楚。本研究共纳入20例MMD患者和25名健康受试者，并根据年龄、性别和教育水平进行匹配。所有参与者均接受认知评估，并通过静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）分析得出全脑体素镜像同伦连接（VMHC）。本研究采用Pearson相关分析来检验VMHC值与神经心理学测试结果之间的关系。与健康对照组相比，MMD患者在额中回（MFG）、额下回眶部（IFGorb）、中央后回（PoCG）和角回（AG）的VMHC显著降低。此外，经Pearson校正后，MMD患者的雷伊听觉词语学习测验（AVLT）识别部分得分与PoCG和AG的VMHC值之间存在显著正相关。本研究受样本量小和横断面设计的限制，无法确定成像指标与临床症状之间的因果关系。这些结果表明，VMHC分析为MMD患者潜在的双侧脑功能活动提供了有价值的见解，为与认知衰退尤其是记忆障碍相关的神经影像学机制提供了新的视角。
