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Disrupted Brain Functional Network Architecture in Chronic Tinnitus Patients
Yu-Chen Chen1, Yuan Feng1, Jin-Jing Xu2
1Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University Nanjing, China.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
|July 27, 2016
Summary
Chronic tinnitus is linked to altered brain network connectivity, particularly in non-auditory regions like the prefrontal cortex. Resting-state fMRI reveals disrupted functional and causal connectivity in patients compared to healthy controls.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Tinnitus, a phantom auditory perception, affects millions globally.
- Existing research on tinnitus neural mechanisms using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows inconsistent findings regarding brain network disruptions.
- The precise neural underpinnings of chronic tinnitus remain poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate aberrant brain network architecture in chronic tinnitus patients using resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI).
- To compare functional connectivity (FC) and effective connectivity patterns between tinnitus patients and healthy controls (HCs).
Main Methods:
- rs-fMRI scans were acquired from 24 chronic tinnitus patients and 22 matched HCs.
- Degree centrality (DC) was employed to assess whole-brain functional connectivity strength.
- Granger causality analysis was used to examine directional effective connectivity.
Main Results:
- Significantly increased network centrality was observed in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG) of tinnitus patients compared to HCs.
- The left SFG showed increased effective connectivity to the left middle orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), left posterior lobe of cerebellum (PLC), left postcentral gyrus, and right middle occipital gyrus (MOG).
- The right SFG demonstrated enhanced effective connectivity to the right supplementary motor area (SMA), correlating positively with tinnitus distress.
Conclusions:
- Rs-fMRI is a valuable tool for identifying aberrant brain network architecture in tinnitus.
- Chronic tinnitus is associated with disrupted functional and causal connectivity, predominantly in non-auditory areas like the prefrontal cortex (PFC).
- These findings offer novel insights into the neuropathophysiological mechanisms underlying chronic tinnitus.
