Frequency-Dependent Changes of the Resting BOLD Signals Predicts Cognitive Deficits in Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Stenosis

Abstract

“Asymptomatic” carotid artery stenosis (aCAS) patients usually have cognitive impairment in the domains of executive, psychomotor speed, and memory function. However, the pathophysiology of this impairment in aCAS patients is still unclear. In this study, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) method was used based on resting-state blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals, to investigate local brain activity in 19 aCAS patients and 24 healthy controls, aimed to explore this pathophysiology mechanism. We analyzed this intrinsic activity in four individual frequency bands: Slow-2 (0.198–0.25 Hz), Slow-3 (0.073–0.198 Hz), Slow-4 (0.027–0.073 Hz), and Slow-5 (0.01–0.027 Hz). The aCAS-related ALFF changes were mainly distributed in (1) cortical midline structure, including bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal (dmPFC), cingulate cortex (CC) and precuneus (PCu); (2) hippocampus and its adjacent structures, including bilateral hippocampus, thalamus and medial temporal regions. We found these spatial patterns were frequency-dependent. Significant interaction between frequency and group was found distributed in left putamen, triangle part of inferior temporal and bilateral precentral/postcentral gyrus when Slow-4 and Slow-5 were considered. The delay recall ability of aCAS patient was significantly positive correlated to the mean ALFF in dmPFC within Slow-4 band and the mean ALFF in the bilateral hippocampus within Slow-3 band, respectively. We also found the Montreal Cognitive Assessme score of aCAS patient was significantly positive correlated to the mean ALFF in right fusiform and parahippocampus within Slow-3 band. Furthermore, we built the automatic diagnosis and prediction models based on support vector machine (SVM) and back propagation neural network (BPNN), respectively. Both two types of models could achieve relatively competent performance, which meant the frequency-dependent changes in ALFF could not only reveal the pathophysiology mechanism of cognitive impairment of aCAS, but also could be used as neuroimaging marker in the analysis of cognition impairment for aCAS patients.

Gray matter asymmetry in asymptomatic carotid stenosis

“…All participants (i.e., 24 SACS patients and 24 HC) completed a comprehensive cognitive battery within 7 days of the MRI scan, including (a) general cognitive assessment and screening using the MMSE (Tombaugh & McIntyre, 1992 ) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Beijing Version (Nasreddine et al, 2005 ); (b) perceptual‐motor speed, memory, and visual scanning using the Digit Symbol (Strauss, Sherman, & Spreen, 2006 ); (c) verbal learning, memory, encoding, and retrieval using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Tests (RAVLT; Schmidt, 1996 ). A full description of the assessment procedures can be found in our recent publications (Gao et al, 2019 ; Gao et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2017 ; Xiao et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Young adults were scanned using a dedicated 3.0 T Siemens PRISMA scanner (Siemens, Germany), with a 64‐channel head coil and similar parameters. Detailed descriptions of the MRI scan protocols have been reported in previous studies (Gao et al, 2019 ; Gao et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2017 ; Xiao et al, 2018 ).…”

Altered Resting State Functional Activity and Microstructure of the White Matter in Migraine With Aura

“…However, it might be prudent to analyse different frequency ranges separately, since resting state networks were shown to be organize across several frequency bands (29). Several publications report resting state network abnormalities throughout several frequency bands in neuropsychiatric diseases and investigate the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (30–33).…”

Combined homocysteine and apoE rs429358 and rs7412 polymorphism in association with serum lipid levels and cognition in Chinese community-dwelling older adults

“…Cognitive function was assessed by Mini-Mental state Examination (MMSE), a commonly used screening measure of cognitive impairment in general practice, which consists of five cognitive domains including orientation function, memory and delayed recall, attention, language, visual and executive ability. This assessment was validated and has been widely used in other large-scale or cross-sectional studies on cognitive function in the elderly previously [ 21 , 22 ]. The test was carried out by trained neurologists in Xuanwu Hospital.…”