Title:The Characteristics of Entorhinal Cortex Functional Connectivity in
Alzheimer’s Disease Patients with Depression
Volume: 19
Issue: 14
Author(s): Haokai Zhu, Hong Zhu, Xiaozheng Liu, Fuquan Wei, Huichao Li and Zhongwei Guo*
Affiliation:
- Zhejiang Mental
Health Center, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310012, China
Keywords:
Alzheimer’s disease, depression, resting state functional MRI, functional connectivity, entorhinal cortex, postcentral gyrus.
Abstract:
Background: Depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) which decreases the life quality of both patients and caregivers. There are currently
no effective drugs. It is therefore important to explore the pathogenesis of depression in AD patients.
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the entorhinal cortex (EC)
functional connectivity (FC) in the whole brain neural network of AD patients with depression (DAD).
Methods: Twenty-four D-AD patients, 14 AD patients without depression (nD-AD), and 20 healthy
controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We set the EC as the seed and
used FC analysis. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine FC differences among the three
groups.
Results: Using the left EC as the seed point, there were FC differences among the three groups in the
left EC-inferior occipital gyrus. Using the right EC as the seed point, there were FC differences among
the three groups in the right EC-middle frontal gyrus, -superior parietal gyrus, -superior medial frontal
gyrus, and -precentral gyrus. Compared with the nD-AD group, the D-AD group had increased FC
between the right EC and right postcentral gyrus.
Conclusion: Asymmetry of FC in the EC and increased FC between the EC and right postcentral gyrus
may be important in the pathogenesis of depression in AD.
