| Title | Abnormal interhemispheric functional connectivity in patients with primary dysmenorrhea: a resting-state functional MRI study |
| Authors | Zhang, Yanan Huang, Yiran Liu, Ni Wang, Zhenjia Wu, Junchen Li, Wenxun Xia, Jing Liu, Zhidan Li, Yingqiu Hao, Ying Huo, Jianwei |
| Affiliation | Capital Med Univ, Beijing Hosp Tradit Chinese Med, Dept Radiol, 23 Meishuguanhou St, Beijing 100010, Peoples R China Beijing Univ Chinese Med, Sch Acupuncture Moxibust & Tuina, Beijing, Peoples R China Peking Univ, Beijing Int Ctr Math Res, 5 Yiheyuan Rd, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China |
| Keywords | HUMAN ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX PAIN COORDINATION INVOLVEMENT |
| Issue Date | Nov-2021 |
| Publisher | QUANTITATIVE IMAGING IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY |
| Abstract | Background: Neuroimaging studies have confirmed that functional connectivity (FC) disruption of pain related brain networks may contribute to the cerebral pathophysiology of primary dysmenorrhea (PDM). However, it remains unclear whether FC of symmetrical regions of bilateral hemispheres associated with PDM is abnormal. This functional MRI study aimed to explore the changes of voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) and seed-based FC in patients with PDM. Methods: A cohort comprising patients with PDM (n=35) and healthy controls (HCs) (n=41) underwent resting-state functional MRI scans during their menstrual phase. Interhemispheric FC was compared between the two groups using VMHC analysis. Brain areas with significant group differences in VMHC were selected as seed regions for FC analysis. Correlation analysis was also conducted to examine the relationship between abnormal connectivity of brain regions and clinical measures of pain and anxiety. Results: Compared with healthy individuals, patients with PDM showed significantly enhanced VMHC in the bilateral orbital part of the superior frontal gyrus and the bilateral middle frontal gyrus. Subsequent seed based FC analysis showed enhanced connectivity between the aforementioned areas and pain-related brain structures. Hyperconnectivity between the left middle frontal gyrus and the right cingulate gyrus in patients was negatively correlated with an increase in the visual analogue score (VAS) for pain (r=-0.341, P<0.05). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that ongoing dysmenorrhea is accompanied by abnormal interhemispheric functional coordination and enhanced connectivity in pain-related regions, attention networks, and the reward system. These findings may provide a novel perspective on the central mechanism of pain caused by PDM. |
| URI | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/634285 |
| ISSN | 2223-4292 |
| DOI | 10.21037/qims-21-731 |
| Indexed | SCI(E) |
| Appears in Collections: | 北京国际数学研究中心 |
