Intrinsic brain abnormalities in chronic rhinosinusitis associated with mood and cognitive function.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is associated with emotional and cognitive disorders.
• Neural mechanisms underlying these comorbidities in CRS remain unclear.
• Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) can reveal brain activity and connectivity alterations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate neural differences in brain activity and functional connectivity in CRS patients compared to healthy controls.
• Explore the relationship between brain alterations and clinical parameters in CRS.
• Identify potential neural markers for mood and cognitive dysfunction in CRS.

Main Methods:

• rs-fMRI scans were acquired from 26 CRS patients and 38 healthy controls (HCs).
• Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations (ALFF) was calculated to assess intrinsic brain activity.
• Functional connectivity (FC) and correlation analyses were performed with clinical data.

Main Results:

• CRS patients showed increased ALFF in the left orbital superior frontal cortex compared to HCs.
• Reduced functional connectivity was observed between the orbital superior frontal cortex and the right precuneus in CRS patients.
• Orbital superior frontal cortex ALFF correlated positively with anxiety and depression scores and increased with inflammation severity.

Conclusions:

• CRS is associated with increased neural activity in the orbital superior frontal cortex, a key region for emotional regulation.
• Hypoconnectivity between the orbital superior frontal cortex and the precuneus suggests impaired cognitive modulation.
• These findings offer preliminary insights into the neural underpinnings of mood and cognitive deficits in CRS.