AUTHOR=Zhao Jin , Su Qinji , Liu Feng , Zhang Zhikun , Yang Ru , Guo Wenbin , Zhao Jingping 

TITLE=Enhanced Connectivity of Thalamo-Cortical Networks in First-Episode, Treatment-Naive Somatization Disorder

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555836

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555836

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Dysfunctions of the thalamus and its projections to cortical cortices have been implicated in patient with somatization disorder (SD). However, changes in the anatomical specificity of thalamo-cortical functional connectivity (FC) in SD remain unclear.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Resting-state fMRI scans were collected in 25 first-episode, drug-naive patients with SD, as well as 28 sex-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls. We parcellated the thalamus with seven predefined regions of interest (ROIs) and used them as seeds to map whole-brain FC. Correlation analysis was conducted in the patients.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>We found an increased pattern of thalamic ROI-cortex connectivity in patients with SD. Patients with SD demonstrated enhanced thalamic connectivity to the bilateral anterior/middle cingulum, motor/sensory cortex, visual cortex, and auditory cortex. A significantly negative correlation was found between the right occipital thalamic ROI to the anterior cingulum and EPQ extraversion scores (<italic>r</italic>=0.404, <italic>p</italic>=0.045) after the Benjamini-Hochberg correction.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>This study demonstrates that anatomical specificity of enhanced thalamo-cortical FCs exists in first-episode, drug-naive patients with SD. These findings further highlight the importance of the thalamic subregions in the pathophysiology of SD.</p></sec>