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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Imaging Methods
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1438260

Brain-wide functional connectivity alterations associated with cognition in subjective cognitive decline

Provisionally accepted
Shaochun Huang Shaochun Huang 1Siyu Wang Siyu Wang 2Zigang Che Zigang Che 3Honglin Ge Honglin Ge 1Zheng Yan Zheng Yan 1Jia Fan Jia Fan 4Xiang Lu Xiang Lu 5Li Liu Li Liu 1Wan Liu Wan Liu 1Yeming Zhong Yeming Zhong 3Caiyun Zou Caiyun Zou 3Jiang Rao Jiang Rao 1Jiu Chen Jiu Chen 6*
  • 1 Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3 Nanjing Tongren Hospital, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
  • 4 University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 5 Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 6 Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Individuals with with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are at risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Traditional seed-based analysis has shown biased functional connectivity (FC) in SCD individuals. To investigate unbiased altered FC by the brain-wide association study (BWAS) and to determine its association with cognition in SCD individuals. Measure of association (MA) analysis was applied to detect significant voxels with FC changes. Based on these changes, we identified regions of interest (ROIs) and conducted ROI-wise FC analyses.Correlation analyses were then performed between these FC circuits and cognition. MA analysis identified 10 ROIs with significantly altered voxels. ROI-wise FC analyses revealed 14 strengthened FC, predominantly parietal-occipital link alterations. The FC between the right superior occipital gyrus and the right postcentral gyrus correlated positively with executive function, while the FC between the right middle occipital gyrus and the left angular gyrus correlated positively with episodic memory in SCD individuals. SCD involves multifocal impairments, of which regions of default mode network (DMN) and occipital lobe should be specially focused. Cross-hemispheric alterations indicate an internal interactive impairment pattern in SCD. The reduced FC between the right superior occipital gyrus and the right postcentral gyrus, and between the right middle occipital gyrus and the left angular gyrus, which correlate with specific cognitive functions, could serve as potential biomarkers for SCD diagnosis.

    Keywords: Subjective cognitive decline, functional connectivity, Alzheimer's disease, Brain-wide association study (BWAS), fMRI

    Received: 25 May 2024; Accepted: 15 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Huang, Wang, Che, Ge, Yan, Fan, Lu, Liu, Liu, Zhong, Zou, Rao and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jiu Chen, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

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