A Study Of Resting-state Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Vascular Cognitive Impairment Of No Dementia

[Objective]We investigated the abnormal neural network changes of anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) in vascular cognitive impairment of no dementia (VCIND) and analysed the changes with the MOCA scores by correlation analysis, to explore the brain areas which showed potential clinical prediction value for the cognitive function of VCIND.[Methods]1.The MoCA scale was used to explore the cognitive function in14VCIND patients(inclusion criteria:right-handed,45to80years old,above elementary school,subcortical ischemic cerebrovascular disease confirmed by MRI,the scores of MOCA(Beijing version)were under26points;exclusion criteria:systemic diseases which may cause cognitive impairment,Neurological diseases which may lead to cognitive impairment,depression and psychiatric patients,drug abuse or chemical poisoning which may disturb the study,physical function defects such as aphasia or audio-visual obstacles which may get in the way of evaluation),as well as16healthy elderly subjects(the control group).2.ACC connectivity was acquired from all subjects by functional connectivity(FC) method.3.The functional connection strength of anterior cingulated cortex was analysed with the MOCA scores by correlation analysis.[Results]1.The visual space/executive function,language,attention/computing power, language directionnal power items,and the total points of MoCA with VCIND are significantly lower than the the normal control group (p<0.05).While abstract ability/memory, naming items have no significant difference in two groups (p>0.05).2.Compared with the control group,the patients showed FC decrease in the left middle temporal gyrus/left superior temporal gyrus,the left superior frontal gyrus/left middle frontal gyrus/left inferior frontal gyrus,the left posterior cingulated cortex/left precuneus,the left inferior parietal lobule/left angular gyrus,the right middle temporal gyrus/right superior temporal gyrus,the right orbit frontal cortex/right inferior frontal gyrus,the right inferior parietal lobule/right angular gyrus,and the right superior frontal gyrus/right middle frontal gyrus.There were also some regions that showed increased connectivity,these regions included the right posterior lobe of the cerebellum,the calcarine fissure,the left middle frontal gyrus,and the left precentral gyrus.3.1n the VCIND patients,the brain regions negatively correlated with the MOCA scores were the left inferior parietal lobule,the right middle temporal gyrus,the right superior frontal gyrus,and the left superior temporal gyrus.The positive-related brain regions were the right posterior limb of internal capsule,the left middle temporal gyrus,the eft precuneus and the right anterior limb of internal capsule.[Conclusions]1.This study suggested that the VCIND group were significantly worse on general cognitive,for example,executive function,attention,language power and so on.2.VCIND patients showed abnormal neural network changes of ACC in resting state, the default network shows great changes.3.The abnormal functional connectivity of ACC with the left inferior parietal lobule,the right middle temporal gyrus,the right superior frontal gyrus and the left superior temporal gyrus has potential clinical value to predict the cognitive function in VCIND.