Introduction: Prior researches have reported abnormal changes of thalamus in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD), which was usually analyzed as a whole. However, it was currently unclear whether the structure, function and connectivity of thalamic subregions were differentially affected by this disease and affected different cognitive functions.
Methods: This study recruited 30 SIVD patients with cognitive impairment (SIVD-CI), 30 SIVD patients with cognitive unimpaired (SIVD-CU) and 32 normal controls. Then we compared the volume, local brain activity, structural connectivity and functional connectivity (FC) of thalamic subregions among three groups using multi-parameter MRI images. Finally, this study analyzed the relationship between these significant values and cognitive performance.
Results: In the SIVD-CI group, the weakened FC between temporal thalamus and frontal cortex, as well as the enhanced FC between temporal thalamus and motor cortex, were significantly correlated with executive impairment; the weakened structural connectivity between the thalamic subregions (pre-frontal thalamus, temporal thalamus and pre-motor thalamus) and the temporal and frontal cortices were significantly related to the declined auditory and working memory (P < 0.05). Moreover, patients in the SIVD-CU group showed no abnormalities in FC, but exhibited a similar pattern of structural connectivity injury to the SIVD-CI group, which was relatively severer. Unexpectedly, there were no significant differences in the volume and local brain activity of all thalamic subregions among the three groups.
Conclusions: The functional and structural connectivity damages between the specific thalamic subregions and the specific cortices were correlated with the specific cognitive impairment in SIVD patients.
Keywords: Cognitive impairment; Connectivity; Magnetic resonance imaging; Subcortical ischemic vascular disease; Thalamic subregions.
Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.