Reduced cortical complexity in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Ophthalmology
• Neurology

Background:

• Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) presents with ophthalmic symptoms, but psychical and functional disturbances are increasingly recognized.
• Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of these functional deficits in TAO is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate alterations in brain structural complexity using fractal dimension (FD) analysis in TAO patients.
• To explore the relationship between brain structural complexity and clinical variables in TAO.

Main Methods:

• High-resolution 3.0 Tesla structural brain MRI was performed on 39 TAO patients and 25 healthy controls.
• Fractal dimension (FD) values of brain regions were calculated using Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12).
• Group comparisons and correlation analyses between FD values and clinical variables were conducted.

Main Results:

• TAO patients exhibited significantly decreased FD values in the right caudal anterior cingulate cortex, right lingual gyrus, right pars orbitalis, and right cuneus cortex (FDR corrected p < 0.05).
• FD values in the right cuneus cortex positively correlated with visual acuity.
• FD values in the right caudal anterior cingulate cortex positively correlated with cognitive performance, and FD values in the right lingual gyrus negatively correlated with emotional function.

Conclusions:

• Cortical complexity is disturbed in brain regions associated with vision, emotion, and cognition in TAO patients.
• Fractal dimension (FD) analysis may serve as a potential neuroimaging marker for the underlying neurobiological basis of TAO.