Altered Dynamics of Brain Spontaneous Activity and Functional Networks Associated With Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

BackgroundCognitive impairment is increasingly recognized as an important comorbidity and complication of type 2 diabetes (T2D), affecting patients' quality of life and diabetes management. Dynamic brain activity indicators can reflect changes in key neural activity patterns of cognition and behavior.PurposeTo investigate dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) changes and spontaneous brain activity based on resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI) in patients with T2D, exploring their correlations with clinical features.Study TypeRetrospective.SubjectsForty‐five healthy controls (HCs) (22 males and 23 females) and 102 patients with T2D (57 males and 45 females).Field Strength/Sequence3.0 T/T1‐weighted imaging and rs‐fMRI with gradient‐echo planar imaging sequence.AssessmentFunctional networks were created using independent component analysis. DFC states were determined using sliding window approach and k‐means clustering. Spontaneous brain activity was assessed using dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) variability.Statistical TestsOne‐way analysis of variance and post hoc analysis were used to compare the essential information including demographics, clinical data, and features of DFC and dReHo among groups. Diagnostic performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. P‐values <0.05 were taken to indicate statistical significance.ResultsT2D group had significantly decreased mean dwell time and fractional windows in state 4 compared to HC. T2D with mild cognitive impairment showed significantly increased dReHo variability in left superior occipital gyrus compared to T2D with normal cognition. Mean dwell time and number of fractional windows of state 4 both showed significant positive correlations with the Montreal cognitive assessment scores (r = 0.309; r = 0.308, respectively) and the coefficient of variation of dReHo was significantly positively correlated with high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.266). The integrated index had an area under the curve of 0.693 (95% confidence interval = 0.592–0.794).Data ConclusionDifferences in DFC and dynamic characteristic of spontaneous brain activity associated with T2D‐related functional impairment may serve as indicators for predicting symptom progression and assessing cognitive dysfunction.Level of Evidence2Technical EfficacyStage 2