Abstract
BackgroundDysfunctions 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.MethodsResting-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.ResultsWe 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 (r=0.404, p=0.045) after the Benjamini-Hochberg correction.ConclusionsThis 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.
Highlights
Somatization disorder (SD) is a common mental disease with a prevalence of 4% to 7% in general individuals [1]
Symptom severity was examined with Symptom checklist-90 (Scl-90) [39], Hamilton depression scale (HAMD; 17 items) [40] and Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA) [41]
Enhanced connectivity was found between the right primary motor thalamic ROI and the right middle occipital gyrus (MOG) and right precentral gyrus
Summary
Somatization disorder (SD) is a common mental disease with a prevalence of 4% to 7% in general individuals [1]. Functional MRI studies report altered activity and connectivity in patients with SD. Increased activity in the bilateral superior medial prefrontal cortex and left precuneus have been observed in patients with SD by Su et al[7], who found enhanced FC strength in the inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) in SD [8]. Li et al found increased/decreased bidirectional corticolimbic connectivity and bidirectional cortico-cerebellar and limbic-cerebellar connectivity in patients with SD [9]. Despite these findings supporting abnormal FCs in patients with SD, the effects of important FCs (such as thalamo-cortical FC) on the pathophysiology of SD remain unclear. Changes in the anatomical specificity of thalamo-cortical functional connectivity (FC) in SD remain unclear
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