Relation of Decreased Functional Connectivity Between Left Thalamus and Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus to Emotion Changes Following Acute Sleep Deprivation.

Bo-Zhi Li,Yang Chen,Ying Zhang,Xi Zhang,Jia-Xi Peng,Yong-Cong Shao,Yu-Hong Gao,Ya Cao

doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.642411

Abstract

Objective: The thalamus is a key node for sleep-wake pathway gate switching during acute sleep deprivation (ASD), and studies have shown that it plays a certain role in emotion changes. However, there are no studies on the association between the thalamus and emotion changes in ASD. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) to explore whether changes in the functional connections between the thalamus and other brain regions are related to emotion changes and further explored the function of the thalamus under total ASD conditions.Method: Thirty healthy, right-handed adult men underwent emotional assessment according to the Profile of Mood States Scale and R-fMRI scans before and after ASD. The correlations between changes in functional connectivity between the thalamus and other brain regions and emotion changes were then studied.Results: Positive emotions and psychomotor performance were reduced, and negative emotions were increased following ASD. The functional connections between the left thalamus and left middle temporal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, right thalamus, right inferior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal pole gyrus, right calcarine, left cuneus, left rectus and left medial superior frontal gyrus were significantly altered. Decreased functional connectivity between left thalamus and left inferior frontal gyrus related to emotion changes following ASD.Conclusion: This study finds that functional changes in the thalamus are associated with emotion changes during ASD, suggesting that the left thalamus probably plays an essential role in emotion changes under ASD conditions.

Highlights

All brain regions are affected by emotions [13]
While the vast majority of studies show that the thalamus plays a key central role in the sleep-wake pathway and involved in a variety of brain cognitive functions [6, 18,19,20,21], and the thalamus is located anatomically in the core area of the brain, there is good evidence to speculate that the thalamus may play a unique role in emotion changes caused by ASD
The role played by the thalamus in emotion changes following ASD remains unclear, ASD can lead to emotion changes [6, 12], and the thalamus has been shown to be involved in emotion changes under CSD conditions

Summary

Introduction

All brain regions are affected by emotions [13]. the research on human brain by fMRI mainly focuses on the higher cortical regions, and there are few studies on the involvement of subcortical structures in emotional changes. As an important structure involved in the sleep-wake pathway, the thalamus has been shown to be involved in alert-related brain cognitive functions [6]. Studies have shown that CSD (insomnia, etc.) can cause functional changes in the thalamic-emotional core region [16, 17]. While the vast majority of studies show that the thalamus plays a key central role in the sleep-wake pathway and involved in a variety of brain cognitive functions [6, 18,19,20,21], and the thalamus is located anatomically in the core area of the brain, there is good evidence to speculate that the thalamus may play a unique role in emotion changes caused by ASD. It is necessary to provide direct evidence to test this hypothesis

Methods

Results

Conclusion