Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug 29:18:1437-1445.
doi: 10.2147/CIA.S422605. eCollection 2023.

Functional Connectivity and Anxiety Improvement After Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease

Bowen Chang #  1   2 , Jiaming Mei #  1   2 , Chen Ni  1   2 , Chaoshi Niu  1   2
Affiliations

Functional Connectivity and Anxiety Improvement After Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease

Bowen Chang et al. Clin Interv Aging. .

Abstract

Background: Anxiety is one of the most common and disturbing non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, few studies have explored the relationship between functional connectivity (FC) and the rate of anxiety improvement after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS). Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the correlation between FC and the rate of anxiety improvement in patients with PD who underwent STN-DBS.

Methods: The resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data of 62 patients with anxious PD (aPD), 68 patients with PD without anxiety (naPD), and 64 healthy controls (HCs) were analyzed according to FC. Intergroup comparison and correlation analyses of anxiety improvement rates were performed.

Results: The HC, aPD and naPD groups of zFCs were then used for the ANOVA test, and the results were FDR-corrected. There were 24 significant differences in FCs between the three groups. Post tests were conducted between groups found that 15 significantly different FCs were observed between the naPD and aPD groups. In addition, the two FCs in patients with aPD were significantly correlated with the rate of improvement in anxiety.

Conclusion: We found that the two FCs in patients with aPD (olfactory cortex and inferior frontal gyrus [IFG] pars orbitalis; inferior temporal gyrus and posterior orbital gyrus) were significantly correlated with the rate of improvement in anxiety. Our study may help us understand the underlying mechanisms by which STN-DBS improves anxiety in PD patients and identify more effective treatment strategies.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; anxiety; deep brain stimulation; fMRI; functional connectivity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Bowen Chang and Jiaming Mei are co-first authors for this study. The authors report no conflicts of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Significant differences in FCs among the aPD, naPD, and HC groups. (A) T-value matrix of functional connectivity between the three groups. (B) Visualization of differential functional connectivity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Significantly different FCs between the naPD and aPD groups. (A) T-value matrix of functional connectivity between the two groups. (B) Visualization of differential functional connectivity.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlation between FC and anxiety improvement rate after STN-DBS. (A) inferior temporal gyrus and posterior orbital gyrus. (B) Olfactory cortex and inferior frontal gyrus [IFG] pars orbitalis close.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jankovic J. Parkinson’s disease: clinical features and diagnosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008;79(4):368–376. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2007.131045 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chang B, Ni C, Mei J, et al. Nomogram for predicting depression improvement after deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease. Brain Sci. 2022;12(7):841. doi:10.3390/brainsci12070841 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chang B, Ni C, Zhang W, et al. Nomogram to predict cognitive state improvement after deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease. Brain Sci. 2022;12(6):759. doi:10.3390/brainsci12060759 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Broen MPG, Narayen NE, Kuijf ML, Dissanayaka NNW, Leentjens AFG. Prevalence of anxiety in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Mov Disord. 2016;31:1125–1133. - PubMed
    1. Pontone GM, Williams JR, Anderson KE, et al. Anxiety and selfperceived health status in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2011;17:249–254. doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2011.01.005 - DOI - PMC - PubMed