Neurologic Factors in Patients with Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment Based on fMRI

Yingying Zhuang1, Yuntao Shi2, Jiandong Zhang1

  • 1Department of Medical Imaging, The Affiliated Huaian No. 1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Huaian City, China.

World Neurosurgery
|November 30, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) aids in diagnosing vascular mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This study found distinct brain activity patterns in MCI patients, highlighting heart disease as a key risk factor.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroimaging and Cognitive Science
  • Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience

Background:

  • Vascular mild cognitive impairment (MCI) poses a significant diagnostic challenge.
  • Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of vascular MCI is crucial for early detection and intervention.
  • Identifying risk factors associated with vascular MCI is essential for preventative strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To apply functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychology for diagnosing vascular MCI.
  • To explore factors relevant to the development and progression of vascular MCI.
  • To investigate brain activity alterations in patients with vascular MCI compared to healthy controls.

Main Methods:

  • Enrolled 28 patients with vascular MCI and 30 healthy controls.
  • Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with an automatic segmentation algorithm based on graph theory.
  • Recorded demographic data, cognitive scores (Montreal Cognitive Assessment), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF).

Main Results:

  • Vascular MCI patients showed significantly higher ReHo in the left posterior cerebellum compared to controls.
  • ReHo in the bilateral cingulate cortex negatively correlated with Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores.
  • Vascular MCI patients exhibited lower ALFF in several brain regions (inferior parietal, parietal, prefrontal lobes) and higher ALFF in others (anterior cingulate, medial frontal, orbital frontal, middle frontal gyri, auxiliary motor area).

Conclusions:

  • Functional MRI combined with advanced image processing can noninvasively detect brain changes in vascular MCI.
  • Specific patterns of regional homogeneity and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations are associated with vascular MCI.
  • Heart disease (e.g., myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation) is identified as a significant risk factor for vascular MCI.

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