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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Imaging Methods
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1515540

Study of Dynamic Brain Function in Irritable Bowel Syndrome via Hidden Markov Modeling

Provisionally accepted
Chuan Jing Chuan Jing 1Tianci Liu Tianci Liu 1Qingzhou Li Qingzhou Li 1Chuan Zhang Chuan Zhang 1Baijintao Sun Baijintao Sun 1Xuezhao Yang Xuezhao Yang 1Yutao You Yutao You 1Jixin Liu Jixin Liu 2Hanfeng Yang Hanfeng Yang 1*
  • 1 Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China
  • 2 Life Sciences Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, China

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

    Background and purpose: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common bowel-brain interaction disorder whose pathogenesis is unclear. Many studies have investigated abnormal changes in brain function in IBS patients. In this study, we analyzed the dynamic changes in brain function in IBS patients using a hidden Markov model (HMM).Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data and the clinical characteristics of 35 patients with IBS and 31 healthy controls (HCs) were collected. The rs-fMRI data of all participants were analyzed using HMM to identify recurrent brain activity states that evolve over time during the resting state.Additionally, the temporal properties of these HMM states and their correlations with clinical scale scores were examined.Result: This study utilized the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) method to identify six distinct HMM states. Significant differences in fractional occupancy (FO) and lifetime (LT) were observed in states 5 and 6 between the IBS and HCs. The state transition probabilities differed between IBS and HCs, with an increased probability of transitioning from state 2 to state 6 in IBS patients. The reconfiguration of HMM states over time scales in IBS patients was associated with abnormal activity in the default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor network (SMN), and cingulo-opercular network (CON).This study offers novel insights into the dynamic reorganization of brain activity patterns in IBS and elucidates potential links between these patterns and IBS-related emotional regulation and symptom experience, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying IBS.

    Keywords: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Hidden Markov Model (HMM), resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, dynamic brain functioning, Brain State

    Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 27 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jing, Liu, Li, Zhang, Sun, Yang, You, Liu and Yang. 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: Hanfeng Yang, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

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