Aberrant Brain Regional Homogeneity And Functional Connectivity Of Entorhinal Cortex In Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment : A Resting-state Functional MRI Study

Objective:To investigate the alterations of regional homogeneity(ReHo)and functional connectivity of entorhinal cortex(EC)in vascular mild cognitive impairment(VaMCI)and to evaluate the relationship between these alterations with neuropsychological measures in individuals with VaMCI.Methods:31 patients with VaMCI and 32 normal controls(NCs)underwent rs-fMRI.The alterations of whole-brain ReHo and seed-based functional connectivity(EC-FC)of the bilateral EC was performed.Pearson’s correlation was conducted to evaluate the relationship between regions with significant group differences and neuropsychological measures.Results:Compared with the NC groups,the VaMCI patients showed significant scores decrease in MMSE,MoCA and increase in ADL(p<0.05);Compared with NCs,individuals with VaMCI had significantly lower ReHo in the left cerebellum and right lentiform nucleus(P<0.05,TFCE FEW correction).Compared with NCs,individuals with VaMCI showed significantly right EC-FC decreased in the right inferior frontal gyrus,right middle frontal gyrus,bilateral precentral gyrus and right postcentral/ superior parietal lobule(P<0.05,TFCE FWE correction).Furthermore,the right lentiform nucleus showed significant positive correlation between ReHo and the MoCA scores(r=0.37,P<0.05);The right postcentral/ superior parietal lobule showed significant positive correlation between right EC-FC and the MoCA scores(r=0.37,P<0.05).Conclusion:The patterns of ReHo and EC-FC changes in VaMCI patients and the correlation with neuropsychological measures may be one of the pathophysiological foundations of cognitive impairment,which is helpful for the early diagnosis of VaMCI.