Yu-Chen Chen, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Gao-Jun Teng MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

To explore the disrupted thalamic functional connectivity and its relationships with cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

A total of 38 T2DM patients and 39 well-matched healthy controls participated in the resting-state fMRI, T1-weighted imaging and diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) scans. The thalamic functional connectivity was characterized by using a seed-based whole-brain correlation method and compared T2DM patients with healthy controls. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between thalamic functional connectivity and clinical data. All individuals provided written informed consent and this study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University.

When compared with healthy controls, T2DM showed significantly decreased functional connectivity of the thalamus mainly in the right temporal cortex, precentral gyrus and bilateral occipital cortex; Increased functional connectivity of the thalamus was detected in the left cerebellum, bilateral frontal cortex and cingulum (p<0.05, corrected for AlphaSim). In T2DM patients, the complex figure test-delayed score and the verbal fluency test score were positively correlated with the thalamic functional connectivity of the right cuneus and the left inferior temporal gyrus, respectively (r=0.575, p<0.01; r=0.591, p<0.01). Moreover, there was no structural damage (thalamic atrophy and DTI abnormalities) in the thalamus of T2DM patients.

T2DM patients develop disrupted thalamocortical functional connectivity, which is associated with cognitive impairment in selected brain regions. Resting-state thalamocortical connectivity disturbance can be used as an early diagnostic marker for evaluating the cognitive dysfunction in T2DM.

This study investigates the thalamic functional connectivity to shed light on the development and progression of cognitive dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Chen, Y, Teng, G, Thalamic Resting-state Functional Connectivity: Disruption in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.  Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14001098.html