Altered Dynamic Neural Activity in the Default Mode Network in Lung Cancer Patients After Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Few studies have examined functional brain changes specifically associated with chemotherapy (CTx) in patients with lung cancer. This prospective longitudinal research aimed to explore the change in intrinsic brain activity by investigating patients with lung cancer after CTx. Material/Methods: Sixteen patients and 20 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF), and dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) were computed. The group differences in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) parameters were compared. Alterations in the rs-fMRI parameters from before CTx to after CTx were assessed using the paired t-test. We performed correlation analyses between rs-fMRI parameters and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores. Results: We found statistically significant differences in MoCA scores before CTx and after CTx. Compared to the healthy group, rs-fMRI values decreased in the frontal regions as well as parietal regions compared to values before CTx. In addition, we found significantly decreased rs-fMRI values in the default-mode network (DMN) region of the brain before CTx compared to after CTx. We found no significant correlations between altered intrinsic activity values and MoCA scores. Conclusions: The current study indicated that patients with lung cancer after CTx had decreased dynamic brain activity in the DMN region, and the DMN is vulnerable when patients undergoing CTx.

Altered Static and Dynamic Interhemispheric Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Patients With Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy

“…However, in our study, the region showing significant differences in dynamic VMHC (i.e., OFC) had no overlap with those in static VMHC. This finding is inconsistent with Chen et al ( 2020), but in line with several studies using other static and dynamic metrics (Han et al, 2018;You et al, 2020). We hypothesize that this discrepancy might be associated with the distinct implications between static and dynamic analyses.…”

Altered Brain Functional Network Topology in Lung Cancer Patients After Chemotherapy

“…Several studies about brain function changes in lung cancer patients have demonstrated the feasibility of fMRI ( 5 , 6 ). You et al reported that the dynamic brain activity of patients with chemotherapy significantly decreased in the default-mode network (DMN) region ( 7 ), and Hu et al found that the dynamic functional connectivity variability in patients with chemotherapy was significantly reduced in several brain regions ( 8 ). Simo et al also reported the DMN functional connectivity decreases in patients with lung cancer ( 9 ).…”

Chemotherapy-induced functional brain abnormality in colorectal cancer patients: a resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

“…Decreased fALFF was identified in the left precuneus of breast cancer patients received a chemotherapy regimen of docetaxel and cyclophosphamide ( 26 ). Lung cancer patients before chemotherapy demonstrated decreased ALFF in the right posterior cingulate cortex when compared with patients after chemotherapy including pemetrexed, gemcitabine, cisplatin, nedaplatin, docetaxel and etoposide ( 27 ). Therefore, we speculated that fALFF might be a promising imaging indicator for exploring the central pathological mechanism of cognitive impairment in CRC patients after chemotherapy.…”