Altered Resting-State Amygdalar Functional Connectivity in Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma Patients

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology
• Radiology

Background:

• Glaucoma is linked to depressive symptoms, associated with amygdala activity.
• Amygdala functional connectivity (FC) changes in glaucoma are not well-documented.
• Primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) serves as a model to investigate these changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate alterations in amygdala functional connectivity (FC) in primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) patients.
• To compare resting-state FC in the amygdala between PACG patients and healthy controls (HCs).
• To explore relationships between altered amygdala FC and clinical variables in PACG.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was employed.
• 36 PACG patients and 33 HCs were enrolled.
• Bilateral amygdala was used as a seed region for FC analysis.

Main Results:

• PACG patients showed reduced amygdala FC with cerebellum, vermis, frontal and motor areas, and putamen compared to HCs.
• Enhanced FC was observed between the left and right amygdala in PACG patients.
• No significant correlations were found between altered FC and clinical parameters or disease duration.

Conclusions:

• PACG patients exhibit widespread resting-state functional connectivity abnormalities involving the amygdala.
• Dysregulated amygdala FC is implicated in the pathophysiology of PACG.
• These findings highlight the neurobiological underpinnings of PACG beyond ocular changes.