Functional connectivity gradients and neurotransmitter maps among patients with mild cognitive impairment and depression symptoms

作者：Xiaozheng Liu, Xiaojun Chen, Jinming Cheng, Fuquan Wei, Hongtao Hou, Jiapeng Li, Kun Liu, Zhongwei Guo, Zhihan Yan, Aiqin Wu · 发表于：Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1503/jpn.240111 · 被引用次数：14 · 研究领域：Functional Brain Connectivity Studies、Mental Health Research Topics、Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Background: Both depressive symptoms and neurotransmitter changes affect the characteristics of functional brain networks in clinical patients. We sought to explore how brain functional grading is organized among patients with mild cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms (D-MCI) and whether changes in brain organization are related to neurotransmitter distribution. Methods: Using 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) we acquired functional MRI (fMRI) data from patients with D-MCI, patients with mild cognitive impairment without depression (nD-MCI), and healthy controls. We used resting-state fMRI and diffusion embedding to examine the pattern of functional connectivity gradients. We used analysis of covariance and post hoc t tests to compare the difference in functional connectivity gradients among the 3 groups. We examined the correlation between variations in functional connectivity gradients and neurotransmitter maps using the JuSpace toolbox. Results: We included 105 participants, including 31 patients with D-MCI, 40 patients with nD-MCI, and 34 healthy controls. Compared with healthy controls, both the nD-MCI and D-MCI groups showed abnormalities in the principal unimodal–transmodal gradient pattern. Compared with controls, the D-MCI group showed an increased secondary gradient in the default mode network. Differences in the functional connectivity gradients between the D-MCI and nD-MCI groups were significantly correlated with the distribution of 5-hydroxytryptamine...