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Functional connectivity density abnormalities and anxiety in primary insomnia patients

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Abstract

Primary insomnia (PI) is strongly associated with emotional dysregulation. However, the neurobiological pathology of the association between PI and emotional dysregulation is limited. Previous studies have indicated an impact of PI on the emotional regulatory system, but the specificity of this finding remains to be confirmed. A sample of 27 primary insomnia patients (PIs) and 32 matched healthy controls (HCs) was recruited for this study. The functional connectivity density (FCD) was used to assess the spontaneous functional brain organization in PIs. Then, we identified whether the local (lFCD) and global FCD (gFCD) abnormalities can be the potential biomarker for emotion level in PIs. Our findings suggested that PIs exhibited higher levels of anxiety and depression, and the levels of anxiety and depression is associated with the insomnia severity. We also found that PIs showed both lower lFCD and gFCD in several regions (i.e. thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula). Furthermore, the lower gFCD values of left ACC and right insula were associated with their anxiety level in PIs, which demonstrated their potential biomarker for anxiety in PIs. Our results demonstrated that the relationship between the insomnia severity and the anxiety level could be partially mediated by gFCD of the ACC and insula. The current study improved our understanding of the anxiety in PIs and provided helpful information for future therapeutic development for PIs.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the academic capability and leaders training program supported by Hebei province Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Imaging, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. 277, West Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi-Province, People’s Republic of China

    Yifei Zhu & Ming Zhang

  2. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China

    Yifei Zhu, Xumeng Zhao & Hua Yin

  3. Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 215 Heping West Road, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang, 050000, People’s Republic of China

    Yifei Zhu

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  1. Yifei Zhu
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Zhu, Y., Zhao, X., Yin, H. et al. Functional connectivity density abnormalities and anxiety in primary insomnia patients. Brain Imaging and Behavior 15, 114–121 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00238-w

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