Abnormal Brain Functional Connectivity in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Correlations with Clinical and Cognitive Parameters

Figures

• 

  Figure 1. Functional connectivity differences in COPD and healthy control groups. The green dots in the panel “Seed Keys” represent the seed regions for RSFC analyses, which are the left middle posterior cingulate cortex (A), left posterior cingulate cortex (B), right superior occipital gyrus (C), left superior temporal sulcus (D), left posterior transverse collateral sulcus (E), right occipital pol; (F), and right precentral gyrus (G). Panels A to G present the seed locations in the voxel space, as shown in the panel “Seed Keys”, and the significant group differences (FWE-corrected P<0.05) in their RSFC between patients with COPD and NC subjects. The clusters colored in cyan to dark blue are the target regions where the degrees of RSFC in the COPD group were lower than those in the NC group (COPD < NC), specifically the middle posterior cingulate cortex (A and B), and the left superior frontal sulcus (C). The clusters colored in yellow to red are regions where the COPD group had higher degrees of RSFC compared to the NC group (COPD > NC), specifically the right thalamus (D), right precuneus gyrus (E), left superior temporal gyrus (F), and left inferior semi-lunar lobule (G).

• 

  Figure 2. Spatial characteristics of group differences in RSFC between the COPD and control groups. Green dots indicate the centroids of the seed regions, and purple dots indicate those of the target regions showing the significant group difference between COPD and control groups. The blue lines show that the COPD group had lower RSFC between the seed point and target region than the control group. In contrast, the red lines indicate that the COPD group had a higher RSFC between the seed point and target region than the control group. For detailed explanations, please refer to the Results and Discussion sections of the main text. (A) Overall difference, (B) Increased RSFC in COPD, (C) Decreased RSFC in COPD, (D) RSFC changes in left intra-hemispheric area. (E) RSFC changes in right intra-hemispheric area. (F) RSFC changes in inter-hemispheric area.

• 

  Figure 3. The RSFC maps showing high correlations between the RSFC and clinical scores in the COPD group. The panels (A–E) show the RSFC maps indicating high correlations (P<0.05) between the RSFC and clinical scores in the COPD group. The green dots indicate the positions of the seed points, whereas the purple dots indicate the target regions. The red lines represent positive correlations between each clinical score and RSFC, while the blue lines represent negative correlations.

• 

  Figure 4. Correlations of RSFCs and clinical scores. (A) Correlation of modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale (mMRC) and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between right precentral gyrus (R.PrCS) and left inferior semi-lunar lobule (L.ISLL) (r = 0.5097, P = 0.0035); (B) Correlation of Mini-Mental State Evaluation (MMSE) and RSFC between right superior occipital gyrus (R.SOG) and left superior frontal gyrus (L.SFS) (r = −0.4615, P = 0.0155); (C) Correlation of COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and RSFC in three different regions (first panel, R.PrCS and L.ISLL (r = 0.4220, P = 0.03); second panel, left posterior transverse collateral sulcus (L.ptCS) and right precuneus gyrus (R.PreCG) (r = −0.4220, P = 0.044); and third panel, left middle posterior cingulate cortex (L.pMCC) and middle posterior cingulate cortex (pMCC) (r = −0.4263, P = 0.027); (D) Correlation of forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV1%) and RSFC in two different regions (first panel, left posterior dorsal cingulate gyrus (L.dPCC) and mPCC (r = 0.4068, P = 0.0415) and second panel, L.ptCS and R.PreCG (r= 0.4774, P = 0.008); (E) Correlation of forced vital capacity (FVC%) and RSFC in four different regions (first panel,…