Regional Coherence Alterations Revealed by Resting-State fMRI in Post-Stroke Patients with Cognitive Dysfunction

<div><p>Objectives</p><p>Post-stroke cognitive dysfunction greatly influences patients’ quality of life after stroke. However, its neurophysiological basis remains unknown. This study utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the alterations in regional coherence in patients after subcortical stroke.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Resting-state fMRI measurements were acquired from 16 post-stroke patients with poor cognitive function (PSPC), 16 post-stroke patients with good cognitive function (PSGC) and 30 well-matched healthy controls (HC). Regional homogeneity (ReHo) was used to detect alterations in regional coherence. Abnormalities in regional coherence correlated with scores on neuropsychological scales.</p><p>Results</p><p>Compared to the HC and the PSGC, the PSPC showed remarkably decreased ReHo in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex and the left posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus. ReHo in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex positively correlated with the scores on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (<i>r</i> = 0.399, <i>P</i> = 0.036) and the Complex Figure Test-delayed recall subtest (<i>r</i> = 0.397, <i>P</i> = 0.036) in all post-stroke patients. Moreover, ReHo in the left posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus positively correlated with the scores on the Forward Digit Span Test (<i>r</i> = 0.485, <i>P</i> = 0.009) in all post-stroke patients.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Aberrant regional coherence was observed in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices in post-stroke patients with cognitive dysfunction. ReHo could represent a promising indicator of neurobiological deficiencies in post-stroke patients.</p>