Aberrant functional and effective connectivity of the frontostriatal network in unilateral acute tinnitus patients with hearing loss.

Gang-Ping Zhou,Heng-Le Wei,Yue-Jin Tao,Yu-Sheng Yu,Wang-Wei Li,Hong Zhang,Yu-Chen Chen,Qing-Qing Zhou,Xindao Yin

doi:10.1007/s11682-021-00486-9

Gang-Ping Zhou, Heng-Le Wei + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-021-00486-9

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Abstract

The present study combined resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and Granger causality analysis (GCA) to explore frontostriatal network dysfunction in unilateral acute tinnitus (AT) patients with hearing loss. The participants included 42 AT patients and 43 healthy control (HC) subjects who underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. Based on the seed regions in the frontostriatal network, FC and GCA were conducted between the AT patients and HC subjects. Correlation analyses were used to examine correlations among altered FC values, GCA values, and clinical features in AT patients. Compared with HCs, AT patients showed a general reduction in FC between the seed regions in the frontostriatal network and nonauditory areas, including the frontal cortices, midcingulate cortex (MCC), supramarginal gyrus, and postcentral gyrus (PoCG). Using the GCA algorithm, we detected abnormal effective connectivity (EC) in the inferior occipital gyrus, MCC, Cerebelum_Crus1, and PoCG. Furthermore, correlations between disrupted FC/EC and clinical characteristics, especially tinnitus distress-related characteristics, were found in AT patients. Our work demonstrated abnormal FC and EC between the frontostriatal network and several nonauditory regions in AT patients with hearing loss, suggesting that multiple large-scale network dysfunctions and interactions are involved in the perception of tinnitus. These findings not only enhance the current understanding of the frontostriatal network in tinnitus but also serve as a reminder of the importance of focusing on tinnitus at an early stage.

Highlights

Tinnitus is a type of sensory-perceptual disorder that is evident in the absence of an external sound source and affects millions of people (Y Cai et al, 2018; Vanneste, Alsalman, & De Ridder, 2019)
The acute tinnitus (AT) group showed no significant differences in age, sex, or educational level compared with the healthy control (HC) group
Rauschecker et al, 2015) reported increased frontostriatal connectivity in chronic tinnitus patients, whereas we found a reduction in functional connectivity (FC) between the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and prefrontal areas

Summary

Introduction

Tinnitus is a type of sensory-perceptual disorder that is evident in the absence of an external sound source and affects millions of people (Y Cai et al, 2018; Vanneste, Alsalman, & De Ridder, 2019). People who have tinnitus often experience depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances, which may reduce their quality of life (Baguley, McFerran, & Hall, 2013; Henry, Roberts, Caspary, Theodoroff, & Salvi, 2014). Different management strategies have been recommended for tinnitus, including psychological counseling, cognition therapy, and sound therapy; there is no definitive cure for all types of tinnitus (Chen et al, 2017; Tsai et al, 2018). It is widely accepted that the central nervous system (CNS) is believed to play an important role in the pathophysiology of tinnitus (Yuexin Cai et al, 2017; Chen et al, 2016)

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