rTMS concurrent with cognitive training rewires AD brain by enhancing GM-WM functional connectivity: a preliminary study.
Tong QinLuyao WangHuanyu XuChunyan LiuYuxuan ShaoFangjie LiYu-Ping WangJie-Hui JiangHua LinPublished in: Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) (2023)
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and cognitive training for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) can change functional connectivity (FC) within gray matter (GM). However, the role of white matter (WM) and changes of GM-WM FC under these therapies are still unclear. To clarify this problem, we applied 40 Hz rTMS over angular gyrus (AG) concurrent with cognitive training to 15 mild-moderate AD patients and analyzed the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after treatment. Through AG-based FC analysis, corona radiata and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) were identified as activated WM tracts. Compared with the GM results with AG as seed, more GM regions were found with activated WM tracts as seeds. The averaged FC, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF), and regional homogeneity (ReHo) of the above GM regions had stronger clinical correlations (r/P = 0.363/0.048 vs 0.299/0.108, 0.351/0.057 vs 0.267/0.153, 0.420/0.021 vs 0.408/0.025, for FC/fALFF/ReHo, respectively) and better classification performance to distinguish pre-/post-treatment groups (AUC = 0.91 vs 0.88, 0.65 vs 0.63, 0.87 vs 0.82, for FC/fALFF/ReHo, respectively). Our results indicated that rTMS concurrent with cognitive training could rewire brain network by enhancing GM-WM FC in AD, and corona radiata and SLF played an important role in this process.
Keyphrases
- resting state
- functional connectivity
- transcranial magnetic stimulation
- high frequency
- magnetic resonance imaging
- white matter
- end stage renal disease
- virtual reality
- quantum dots
- locally advanced
- squamous cell carcinoma
- chronic kidney disease
- highly efficient
- newly diagnosed
- prognostic factors
- magnetic resonance
- deep learning
- cross sectional
- blood brain barrier
- peritoneal dialysis
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- radiation therapy