Increased Resting-State Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity of Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus and Posterior Cingulate Cortex in Congenital Amusia

Zhishuai Jin; Sizhu Huyang; Lichen Jiang; Yajun Yan; Ming Xu; Jinyu Wang; Qixiong Li; Daxing Wu

doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.653325

Increased Resting-State Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity of Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus and Posterior Cingulate Cortex in Congenital Amusia

Front Neurosci. 2021 Apr 30:15:653325. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.653325. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Zhishuai Jin¹, Sizhu Huyang¹, Lichen Jiang¹, Yajun Yan¹, Ming Xu¹, Jinyu Wang¹, Qixiong Li¹, Daxing Wu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Medical Psychological Center, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
² Medical Psychological Institute, Central South University, Changsha, China.
³ National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Interhemispheric connectivity of the two cerebral hemispheres is crucial for a broad repertoire of cognitive functions including music and language. Congenital amusia has been reported as a neurodevelopment disorder characterized by impaired music perception and production. However, little is known about the characteristics of the interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) in amusia. In the present study, we used a newly developed voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method to investigate the interhemispheric FC of the whole brain in amusia at resting-state. Thirty amusics and 29 matched participants underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. An automated VMHC approach was used to analyze the fMRI data. Compared to the control group, amusics showed increased VMHC within the posterior part of the default mode network (DMN) mainly in the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Correlation analyses revealed negative correlations between the VMHC value in pSTG/PCC and the music perception ability among amusics. Further ROC analyses showed that the VMHC value of pSTG/PCC showed a good sensibility/specificity to differentiate the amusics from the controls. These findings provide a new perspective for understanding the neural basis of congenital amusia and imply the immature state of DMN may be a credible neural marker of amusia.

Keywords: congenital amusia; functional connectivity; posterior cingulate cortex; posterior superior temporal gyrus; voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity.