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. 2023 May 5:17:1168773.
doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1168773. eCollection 2023.

The analysis of brain functional connectivity of post-stroke cognitive impairment patients: an fNIRS study

Jiahuan Zou  1 , Yongyan Yin  1 , Zhenfang Lin  2 , Yulai Gong  2
Affiliations

The analysis of brain functional connectivity of post-stroke cognitive impairment patients: an fNIRS study

Jiahuan Zou et al. Front Neurosci. .

Abstract

Background: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is a considerable risk factor for developing dementia and reoccurrence of stroke. Understanding the neural mechanisms of cognitive impairment after stroke can facilitate early identification and intervention.

Objectives: Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNRIS), the present study aimed to examine whether resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of brain networks differs in patients with PSCI, patients with Non-PSCI (NPSCI), and healthy controls (HCs), and whether these features could be used for clinical diagnosis of PSCI.

Methods: The present study recruited 16 HCs and 32 post-stroke patients. Based on the diagnostic criteria of PSCI, post-stroke patients were divided to the PSCI or NPSCI group. All participants underwent a 6-min resting-state fNRIS test to measure the hemodynamic responses from regions of interests (ROIs) that were primarily distributed in the prefrontal, somatosensory, and motor cortices.

Results: The results showed that, when compared to the HC group, the PSCI group exhibited significantly decreased interhemispheric FC and intra-right hemispheric FC. ROI analyses showed significantly decreased FC among the regions of somatosensory cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and medial prefrontal cortex for the PSCI group than for the HC group. However, no significant difference was found in the FC between the PSCI and the NPSCI groups.

Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence for compromised interhemispheric and intra-right hemispheric functional connectivity in patients with PSCI, suggesting that fNIRS is a promising approach to investigate the effects of stroke on functional connectivity of brain networks.

Keywords: assessment; functional connectivity; functional near-infrared spectroscopy; post-stroke cognitive impairment; stroke.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Configuration of fNIRS channels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The results of significant changes of hemisphere-based FC value between HC, PSCI and NPSCI groups based on HbR. (A) Interhemispheric FC. (B) Intra-right hemispheric FC. (C) Intra-left hemispheric FC. Group 1: HC group; group 2: NPSCI group; group 3: PSCI group. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The resting-state functional connectivity in deoxyhemoglobin. (A) Group-averaged resting-state functional connectivity matrix diagram. (B) ROI-based connections with significant inter-group differences (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). (C) The results of post-hoc comparisons (p < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). Group 1: HC group; group 2: NPSCI group; group 3: PSCI group. The color bar indicates the statistical significance threshold.
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