Aberrant Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity in Diabetic Retinopathy Patients

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is linked to brain functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities.
• Interhemispheric coordination alterations in DR are not well understood.
• This study investigates interhemispheric coordination changes in DR patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate alterations in interhemispheric coordination in DR patients.
• To identify specific brain regions and networks affected by these alterations.
• To explore the relationship between visual acuity and brain functional connectivity in DR.

Main Methods:

• Voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) was used to assess interhemispheric FC.
• Seed-based FC analysis was applied to regions with decreased VMHC.
• Thirty-four DR patients and 37 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled.

Main Results:

• DR patients showed decreased VMHC in multiple brain regions, including the middle temporal gyrus and occipital gyrus.
• Altered FC was observed in auditory, visual, default mode, salience, and sensorimotor networks.
• A positive correlation was found between visual acuity and VMHC in several brain regions in DR patients.

Conclusions:

• DR is associated with significant impairment in interhemispheric coordination across multiple brain networks.
• VMHC may serve as a potential therapeutic target for brain functional dysfunction in DR.
• Findings highlight the impact of DR on brain connectivity beyond visual pathways.