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. 2024 Oct 23;14(1):24997.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-75714-5.

Alterations of regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits in drug-naïve adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury

Kaike Liao #  1 , Rui Yu #  1 , Yuwei Chen  1 , Xinyue Chen  1 , Xinyan Wu  1 , Xiaohua Huang  1 , Nian Liu  2   3
Affiliations

Alterations of regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits in drug-naïve adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury

Kaike Liao et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one of the major public health problems endangering adolescents. However, the neural mechanisms of NSSI is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits in drug-naïve adolescents with NSSI using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) combined with functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Thirty-two drug-naïve adolescents with NSSI (NSSI group) and 29 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and level of education (HC group) were enrolled in this study. ALFF and seed-based FC analyses were used to examine the alterations in regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits. The correlation between ALFF or FC values of aberrant brain regions and clinical characteristics were detected by Pearson correlation analysis. The NSSI group showed increased ALFF in the left inferior and middle occipital gyri, lingual gyrus, and fusiform gyrus; additionally, decreased ALFF in the right medial cingulate gyrus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, and left medial superior frontal gyrus compared to those in the HC group. With the left inferior occipital gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left inferior occipital gyrus and the bilateral superior parietal gyrus, right inferior parietal angular gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus of the insular region, and left precuneus relative to that the HC group. With the left anterior cingulate gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left anterior cingulate gyrus and right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus. With the left lingual gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left lingual gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus, and decreased FC between the left lingual gyrus and the left superior temporal gyrus, right supplementary motor area, and left rolandic operculum. With the left fusiform gyrus as seed, the NSSI group showed increased FC between the left fusiform gyrus and left middle and inferior temporal gyrus, and decreased FC between the left fusiform gyrus and the bilateral postcentral gyrus, right precentral gyrus, right lingual gyrus, and left inferior parietal angular gyrus. Moreover, the FC value between the left fusiform gyrus and left inferior temporal gyrus was positively correlated with suicidal ideations score. This study highlights alterations in regional brain activity and corresponding brain circuits in brain regions related to visual and emotional regulation functions in drug-naïve adolescents with NSSI. These findings may facilitate better understand the underlying neural mechanisms of NSSI in adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescents; Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations; Functional connectivity; Nonsuicidal self-injury; Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The differences in ALFF between the NSSI group and HC group. Note: (A) Brain regions showing significant differences in ALFF in the NSSI group relative to the HC group. Red and blue denote higher and lower ALFF values, respectively (p < 0.05, GRF-corrected). (B) Surface view with BrainNet Viewer. The color bar indicates the T-value. ALFF: the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations; NSSI: non-suicidal self-injury; HC: healthy controls; MOG. L: left middle occipital gyrus; IOG. L: left inferior occipital gyrus; LG. L: left lingual gyrus; FFG. L: left fusiform gyrus; ACG. L: left anterior cingulate gyrus; MCG. R: right median cingulate gyrus; SFGmed. L: left medial superior frontal gyrus.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The differences Seed 1 (left IOG)-based FC between the NSSI group and HC group. Note: (A) Brain regions showing significant differences in Seed 1 (left IOG)-based FC in NSSI group relative to the HC group. Red denotes higher ALFF values (p < 0.05, GRF-corrected). (B) Surface view with BrainNet Viewer. The color bar indicates the T-value. FC: functional connectivity; NSSI: non-suicidal self-injury; HC: healthy controls; IOG: inferior occipital gyrus; SPG. L/R: left/right superior parietal gyrus; IPG. R: right inferior parietal angular gyrus; IFG. R: right inferior frontal gyrus of insular part.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The differences Seed 2 (left ACG)-based FC between the NSSI group and HC group. Note: (A) Brain regions showing significant differences in Seed 2 (left ACG)-based FC in the NSSI group relative to the HC group. Red denotes higher ALFF value (p < 0.05, GRF-corrected). (B) Surface view with BrainNet Viewer. The color bar indicates the T-value. FC: functional connectivity; NSSI: non-suicidal self-injury; HC: healthy controls; ACG. L: left anterior cingulate gyrus; SFGdor. R: right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The differences Seed 3 (left LG)-based FC between the NSSI group and HC group. Note: (A) Brain regions showing significant differences in Seed 3 (left LG)-based FC in the NSSI group relative to the HC group. Red and blue denote higher and lower ALFF values, respectively (p < 0.05, GRF-corrected). (B) Surface view with BrainNet Viewer. The color bar indicates the T-value. FC: functional connectivity; NSSI: non-suicidal self-injury; HC: healthy controls; LG: lingual gyrus; ROL. L: left rolandic operculum; STG. L: left superior temporal gyrus; MFG. R: right middle frontal gyrus; SMA. R: right supplementary motor area.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The differences Seed 4 (left FFG)-based FC between the NSSI group and HC group. Note: (A) Brain regions showing significant differences in Seed 4 (left FFG)-based FC in the NSSI group relative to the HC group. Red and blue denote higher and lower ALFF values, respectively (p < 0.05, GRF-corrected). (B) Surface view with BrainNet Viewer. The color bar indicates the T-value. FC: functional connectivity; NSSI: non-suicidal self-injury; HC: healthy controls; FFG: fusiform gyrus; PoCG.L/R: left/right postcentral gyrus; PreCG. R: right precentral gyrus; IPG. L: left inferior parietal angular gyrus; MTG. L: left middle temporal gyrus; ITG. L: left inferior temporal gyrus; LG. R: right lingual gyrus.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Correlation between the FC value of the left fusiform gyrus and left inferior temporal gyrus and suicidal ideations score in the NSSI group.
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