Functional connectivity analysis in the brain of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in the improvement of depression in Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Objective To explore the correlation between functional connectivity (FC) in the brains of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with depression and the improvement rate of depression after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN‐DBS). Methods This study included 38 PD patients (25 with depression and 13 without depression) who underwent STN ‐DBS at The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China from September 2019 to April 2020. All participants underwent resting‐state fMRI. The severity of depression was assessed using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale‐17 Items (HAMD‐17) before and 2 years after the surgery, and the improvement rate of depression was calculated. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between FC and the improvement rate of depression in PD patients with depression. Results There were 34 different FC between PD patients with and without depression compared to control group (P = 0.000, for all). Among patients with PD, those with depression showed 4 distinct FC compared to those without depression, including left precuneus ‐right supplementary motor area (t = 6.028, P = 0.000), right insula ‐right lateral orbital gyrus (t = 5.525, P = 0.000), left paracentral lobule‐left precuneus (t = 5.545, P = 0.000), and right paracentral lobule ‐ left precuneus (t = 5.578, P = 0.000). Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between the zFC values of right precuneus‐right insula (rs = ‐ 0.544, P = 0.009) and left temporal pole‐left insula (rs = ‐ 0.765, P = 0.010) and the improvement rate of depression in PD patients with depression. Conclusions The FC of right precuneus‐right insula and left temporal pole‐left insula in PD patients with depression is negatively associated with the improvement rate of depression.

DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2024.07.006