Disrupted functional brain network organization in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Sleep Medicine

Background:

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is linked to impaired autonomic, cognitive, and sensorimotor functions.
• Brain injury is observed in OSA, but the integrity of functional brain networks remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate functional interactions and network organization across the whole brain in OSA patients.
• To examine regional functional connectivity (FC) and brain network topological properties in OSA.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional MRI data were acquired from 69 moderate-to-severe OSA patients and 82 controls.
• Analysis focused on interregional correlations for FC and brain network topological properties.

Main Results:

• OSA subjects exhibited significantly altered FC in multiple brain regions, including cerebellar, frontal, and limbic areas.
• Functional brain networks in OSA showed less efficient integration and declined topological properties.
• Abnormal network properties in OSA were related to apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) scores.

Conclusions:

• Altered FC and impaired network organization in OSA persist during rest.
• These brain network changes may underlie the observed functional deficits in autonomic, cognitive, and sensorimotor functions.
• Structural changes in axons and nuclear structures likely contribute to these network alterations.