Functional connectivity of paired default mode network subregions in patients with eye trauma
Authors:   Department of Ophthalmology, Nanchang People's Hospital, Nanchang 330025, Jiangxi Province, China, Xing Zheng-Mao , Hu Jin-Yu ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, Zhou Xian-Mei ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China, Liao Xuan ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China, Chen Cheng ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, Wei Hong ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, Kang Min ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, Ling Qian ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, He Liang-Qi ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, Liu Zhen-Zhe ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, Zou Jie ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China, Chen Xu ,   Ophthalmology Centre of Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200MS, Limburg Provincie, Netherlands, Wu Zhen-Kai ,   Changde Hospital, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University (the First People's Hospital of Changde City), Changde 415000, Hunan Province, China, Shao Yi ,   Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China; Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Shanghai 200080, China
Published: November 2024

AIM: To study functional brain abnormalities in patients with eye trauma (ET) and to discuss the pathophysiological mechanisms of ET.
METHODS: Totally 31 ET patients and 31 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The age, gender, and educational background characteristics of the two groups were similar. After functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, the subjects' spontaneous brain activity was evaluated with the functional connectivity (FC) method. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to classify the data. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to explore the relationship between FC values in specific brain regions and clinical behaviors in patients with ET.
RESULTS: Significantly increased FC between several regions was identified including the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and left hippocampus formations (HF), the MPFC and left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), the left IPL and left medial temporal lobe (MTL), the left IPL and right MTL, and the right IPL and left MTL. No decreased region-to-region connectivity was detected in default mode network (DMN) sub-regions in patients with ET. Compared with HCs, ET patients exhibited significantly increased FC between several paired DMN regions, as follows: posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and right HF (HF.R, t=2.196, P=0.032), right inferior parietal cortices (IPC.R) and left MTL (MTL.L, t=2.243, P=0.029), and right MTL (MTL.R) and HF.R (t=2.236, P=0.029).
CONCLUSION: FC values in multiple brain regions of ET patients are abnormal, suggesting that these brain regions in ET patients may be dysfunctional, which may help to reveal the pathophysiological mechanisms of ET.