Calcarine as a bridge between brain function and structure in irritable bowel syndrome: A multiplex network analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) pathophysiology is complex, involving altered brain-gut interactions.
• Analyzing both structural and functional brain networks offers deeper insights into IBS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate brain network alterations in IBS using a multiplex network analysis framework.
• To identify differences in network topology and hub nodes between IBS patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Integrated functional and structural brain networks into a multiplex network model.
• Examined multiplex network metrics and inner/inter-layer hub nodes in 34 IBS patients and 33 healthy controls.

Main Results:

• Found significant differences in multiplex degree in the calcarine regions, with IBS patients losing inner-layer hub properties.
• Observed shifts in hub node status in the fusiform and median cingulate cortices.
• Identified a positive correlation between the multiplex degree of the left hippocampus and IBS Symptom Severity Score.

Conclusions:

• Inner-layer hub nodes in multiplex brain networks are vulnerable in IBS.
• Hub node identities can change (e.g., inner-layer to inter-layer) in IBS patients.
• Inter-layer hub nodes may be influenced by IBS severity.