Altered resting-state thalamo-occipital functional connectivity is associated with cognition in isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder

Jung-Ick Byun; Hyun-Woo Kim; Hyejin Kang; Kwang Su Cha; Jun-Sang Sunwoo; Jung-Won Shin; Jangsup Moon; Soon-Tae Lee; Keun-Hwa Jung; Kon Chu; Manho Kim; Won Chul Shin; Dong Soo Lee; Carlos H Schenck; Sang Kun Lee; Ki-Young Jung

doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2020.01.010

Altered resting-state thalamo-occipital functional connectivity is associated with cognition in isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder

Sleep Med. 2020 May:69:198-203. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.01.010. Epub 2020 Jan 18.

Authors

Jung-Ick Byun¹, Hyun-Woo Kim², Hyejin Kang³, Kwang Su Cha², Jun-Sang Sunwoo⁴, Jung-Won Shin⁵, Jangsup Moon⁶, Soon-Tae Lee², Keun-Hwa Jung², Kon Chu², Manho Kim⁷, Won Chul Shin¹, Dong Soo Lee⁸, Carlos H Schenck⁹, Sang Kun Lee¹⁰, Ki-Young Jung¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
² Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
³ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; BK21 Plus Global Translational Research on Molecular Medicine and Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Seoul, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
⁵ Department of Neurology, CHA University, CHA Bundang Medical Center, Seongnam, South Korea.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Rare Disease Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Dementia Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
⁸ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Molecular Medicine and Biopharmaceutical Science, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
⁹ Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Psychiatry, Hennepin County Medical Center, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN.
¹⁰ Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹¹ Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 32135454
DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.01.010

Abstract

Objective: Isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) patients are at risk of cognitive impairments, however the underlying mechanism is still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate thalamo-cortical functional connectivity (FC) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and its correlation with cognitive dysfunction in patients with iRBD.

Methods: A total 37 polysomnographies (PSGs) confirmed iRBD patients and 15 age-sex matched controls underwent resting-state fMRI and comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Thalamo-cortical FC was evaluated by using seed-to voxel analysis and was compared between the iRBD and controls. Correlation between the average value of significant clusters and cognitive function scores in iRBD were calculated.

Results: Compared to the control subjects, patients with iRBD patients showed cognitive decline in word list recognition (p = 0.016), and constructional recall (p = 0.044). The FC analysis showed increased FC between the left thalamus and occipital regions including the right cuneal cortex, left fusiform gyrus and lingual gyrus (cluster level p < 0.05, corrected for false discovery rate). The averaged thalamo-fusiform FC value positively correlated with word list recognition after adjusting for age and sex (adjusted r = 0.347, p = 0.041).

Conclusion: Thalamic resting state FC is altered in iRBD patients and is associated with the cognitive function. Enhancement of the thalamo-occipital FC may reflect a compensatory mechanism for cognitive impairment in iRBD.

Keywords: Cognitive function; Functional brain imaging; Neuroimaging; REM sleep behavior disorder.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Cognitive Dysfunction*
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neuropsychological Tests / statistics & numerical data
Polysomnography
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder / physiopathology*
Thalamus / physiopathology*