Amygdala Connectivity Alterations in High Myopia: A Resting-State fMRI Study with SVM-Based Classification

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Ophthalmology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• High myopia (HM) is associated with emotional disorders like anxiety and depression.
• Previous neuroimaging studies in HM have yielded inconsistent results.
• The amygdala's role in HM's emotional dysregulation is under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate amygdala-specific functional connectivity (FC) alterations in individuals with high myopia.
• To explore the potential of amygdala FC patterns as neuroimaging biomarkers for HM.
• To understand the neural underpinnings of emotional and cognitive issues in HM.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) data were collected from 82 HM patients and 59 healthy controls (HCs).
• Seed-based analysis focused on bilateral amygdalae to compare whole-brain FC between groups.
• Support vector machine (SVM) models assessed the classification accuracy of identified FC differences.

Main Results:

• HM patients exhibited significantly increased amygdala FC with regions in visual, default mode, and executive control networks (e.g., calcarine fissure, precuneus, middle frontal gyrus) compared to HCs.
• SVM models demonstrated robust classification performance, achieving an area under the curve (AUC) of up to 0.765.
• These findings represent the first report of amygdala-centric network reorganization in HM.

Conclusions:

• Altered amygdala functional connectivity is a key feature of high myopia.
• These connectivity patterns may serve as valuable neuroimaging biomarkers for HM.
• The study provides evidence for a neural basis of emotional and cognitive dysregulation in HM, emphasizing the importance of mental health support.