Impaired decision-making and functional neuronal network activity in systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with cognitive deficit but the exact neural mechanisms remain unclear.

To explore sequential brain activities using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the performance of a decision-making task, and to determine whether serum or clinical markers can reflect the involvement of the brain in SLE.

Sixteen female SLE patients without overt clinical neuropsychiatric symptoms and 16 healthy controls were included.

1.5T, T₁ -weighted anatomic images, gradient-echo echo-planar imaging sequence, and 3D images.

The computer-based Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) for assessing decision-making was performed by SLE patients and 16 matched controls; brain activity was recorded via blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI. The amplitudes of the average BOLD responses were calculated for each individual subject, and activation data from fMRI experiments were compared between the two groups.

Two-sample t-test; repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA); linear regression analyses.

Imaging revealed activity in a distributed network of brain regions in both groups, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and the striatum, as well as the insular, parietal, and occipital cortices. Compared to controls, SLE patients showed lower activation in a convergence zone and the limbic system, namely, the OFC, vmPFC, ACC, and PCC, but greater activation in memory, emotion, and behavior systems involving the dlPFC, the insular cortex and the striatum. Furthermore, brain activation in the vmPFC was positively correlated with IGT scores (r = 0.63, P < 0.001), but inversely related to disease activity (r = -0.57, P < 0.01).

The dynamics among the aforementioned neural systems (some hyperfunctioning, others hypofunctioning) may shed some light on the pathologic mechanisms underlying SLE without overt clinical neuropsychiatric symptoms. In addition, disease activity may potentially be used as an effective biomarker reflecting cerebral involvement in SLE.

1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;48:1508-1517.