Cerebellum and hippocampus abnormalities in patients with insomnia comorbid depression: a study on cerebral blood perfusion and functional connectivity

Minghe Xu; Qian Wang; Bo Li; Shaowen Qian; Shuang Wang; Yu Wang; Chunlian Chen; Zhe Liu; Yuqing Ji; Kai Liu; Kuolin Xin; Yujun Niu

doi:10.3389/fnins.2023.1202514

Cerebellum and hippocampus abnormalities in patients with insomnia comorbid depression: a study on cerebral blood perfusion and functional connectivity

Front Neurosci. 2023 Jun 16:17:1202514. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1202514. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Minghe Xu¹, Qian Wang², Bo Li³, Shaowen Qian³, Shuang Wang³, Yu Wang³, Chunlian Chen³, Zhe Liu³, Yuqing Ji³, Kai Liu³, Kuolin Xin⁴, Yujun Niu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Postgraduate Training Base of the 960th Hospital of People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinan, China.
² Department of Radiology, Qingdao Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Qingdao Hiser hospital), Qingdao, China.
³ Department of Radiology, The 960th Hospital of People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force, Jinan, China.
⁴ Sleep Clinic, The 960th Hospital of People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force, Jinan, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, China.

Abstract

Chronic insomnia disorder and major depressive disorder are highly-occurred mental diseases with extensive social harm. The comorbidity of these two diseases is commonly seen in clinical practice, but the mechanism remains unclear. To observe the characteristics of cerebral blood perfusion and functional connectivity in patients, so as to explore the potential pathogenesis and biological imaging markers, thereby improving the understanding of their comorbidity mechanism. 44 patients with chronic insomnia disorder comorbid major depressive disorder and 43 healthy controls were recruited in this study. The severity of insomnia and depression were assessed by questionnaire. The cerebral blood perfusion and functional connectivity values of participants were obtained to, analyze their correlation with questionnaire scores. The cerebral blood flow in cerebellum, vermis, right hippocampus, left parahippocampal gyrus of patients were reduced, which was negatively related to the severity of insomnia or depression. The connectivities of left cerebellum-right putamen and right hippocampus-left inferior frontal gyrus were increased, showing positive correlations with the severity of insomnia and depression. Decreased connectivities of left cerebellum-left fusiform gyrus, left cerebellum-left occipital lobe, right hippocampus-right paracentral lobule, right hippocampus-right precentral gyrus were partially associated with insomnia or depression. The connectivity of right hippocampus-left inferior frontal gyrus may mediate between insomnia and depression. Insomnia and depression can cause changes in cerebral blood flow and brain function. Changes in the cerebellar and hippocampal regions are the result of insomnia and depression. They reflect abnormalities in sleep and emotion regulation. That may be involved in the pathogenesis of comorbidity.

Keywords: arterial spin labeling; cerebral blood flow; depression; functional connectivity; insomnia; resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.