Selective impairments of resting-state networks in minimal hepatic encephalopathy. PLoS One 7: e37400

Background: Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is a neuro-cognitive dysfunction characterized by impairment in attention, vigilance and integrative functions, while the sensorimotor function was often unaffected. Little is known, so far, about the exact neuro-pathophysiological mechanisms of aberrant cognition function in this disease. Methodology/Principal Findings: To investigate how the brain function is changed in MHE, we applied a resting-state fMRI approach with independent component analysis (ICA) to assess the differences of resting-state networks (RSNs) between MHE patients and healthy controls. Fourteen MHE patients and 14 age-and sex-matched healthy subjects underwent resting-state fMRI scans. ICA was used to identify six RSNs [dorsal attention network (DAN), default mode network (DMN), visual network (VN), auditory network (AN), sensorimotor network (SMN), self-referential network (SRN)] in each subject. Group maps of each RSN were compared between the MHE and healthy control groups. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between the RSNs functional connectivity (FC) and venous blood ammonia levels, and neuropsychological tests scores for all patients. Compared with the healthy controls, MHE patients showed significantly decreased FC in DAN, both decreased and increased FC in DMN, AN and VN. No significant differences were found in SRN and SMN between tw