Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a neurological condition that occurs as a complication of liver dysfunction that involves sensorimotor symptoms in addition to cognitive and behavioral changes, particularly in cases of severe liver disease or cirrhosis. Previous studies have reported spatially distrib...

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Main Authors: Guanchen Sha, Yuefan Liu, Yutong Cao, Qi Zhang, Yining Zhang, Yuanyuan Chen, Qiuyun Fan, Yue Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. 2025-05-01
Series:Magnetic Resonance Letters
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772516224000639
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author Guanchen Sha
Yuefan Liu
Yutong Cao
Qi Zhang
Yining Zhang
Yuanyuan Chen
Qiuyun Fan
Yue Cheng
author_facet Guanchen Sha
Yuefan Liu
Yutong Cao
Qi Zhang
Yining Zhang
Yuanyuan Chen
Qiuyun Fan
Yue Cheng
author_sort Guanchen Sha
collection DOAJ
description Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a neurological condition that occurs as a complication of liver dysfunction that involves sensorimotor symptoms in addition to cognitive and behavioral changes, particularly in cases of severe liver disease or cirrhosis. Previous studies have reported spatially distributed structural and functional abnormalities related to HE, but the exact relationship between the structural and functional alterations with respect to disease progression remains unclear. In this study, we performed surface-based cortical thickness comparisons and functional connectivity (FC) analyses between three cross-sectional groups: healthy controls (HC, N = 51), patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE, N = 50), patients with overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE, N = 51). In addition to the distributed cortical thinning that is extensively thought to be associated with cognitive decline in HE, we found significant cortical thickening in the left parahippocampal gyrus cortex in the OHE group (p < 0.001, p = 0.009) as compared to the HC and MHE group respectively, which is further corroborated by the significant correlation between the cortical thickness and digit symbol test (DST) scores. Furthermore, the decreased FC between the right postcentral gyrus and several sensory regions (bilateral somatosensory and visual cortices) was found to be significant in MHE patients as compared to the HC group. Our results revealed cross-sectional structural and functional variations concerning disease progression across different subsystems (e.g., visual, motor and sensory), providing evidence that can potentially explain the mechanisms underlying the sensorimotor and cognitive deficits related to HE.
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spelling doaj-art-dbccf0e91bd048f6bb3057c6ebfd3eec2025-08-20T03:26:20ZengKeAi Communications Co. Ltd.Magnetic Resonance Letters2772-51622025-05-015220015610.1016/j.mrl.2024.200156Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathyGuanchen Sha0Yuefan Liu1Yutong Cao2Qi Zhang3Yining Zhang4Yuanyuan Chen5Qiuyun Fan6Yue Cheng7Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Neuroengineering, Tianjin, 300072, ChinaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Neuroengineering, Tianjin, 300072, ChinaTianjin Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Neuroengineering, Tianjin, 300072, China; Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, ChinaDepartment of Medical Imaging, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, 300192, ChinaDepartment of Medical Imaging, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, 300192, ChinaTianjin Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Neuroengineering, Tianjin, 300072, China; Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interaction and Human-Machine Integration, Tianjin, 300392, ChinaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Neuroengineering, Tianjin, 300072, China; Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Haihe Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interaction and Human-Machine Integration, Tianjin, 300392, China; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Medical Materials and Devices, Tianjin, 300072, China; Corresponding author. Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.Department of Medical Imaging, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, 300192, China; Corresponding author.Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a neurological condition that occurs as a complication of liver dysfunction that involves sensorimotor symptoms in addition to cognitive and behavioral changes, particularly in cases of severe liver disease or cirrhosis. Previous studies have reported spatially distributed structural and functional abnormalities related to HE, but the exact relationship between the structural and functional alterations with respect to disease progression remains unclear. In this study, we performed surface-based cortical thickness comparisons and functional connectivity (FC) analyses between three cross-sectional groups: healthy controls (HC, N = 51), patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE, N = 50), patients with overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE, N = 51). In addition to the distributed cortical thinning that is extensively thought to be associated with cognitive decline in HE, we found significant cortical thickening in the left parahippocampal gyrus cortex in the OHE group (p < 0.001, p = 0.009) as compared to the HC and MHE group respectively, which is further corroborated by the significant correlation between the cortical thickness and digit symbol test (DST) scores. Furthermore, the decreased FC between the right postcentral gyrus and several sensory regions (bilateral somatosensory and visual cortices) was found to be significant in MHE patients as compared to the HC group. Our results revealed cross-sectional structural and functional variations concerning disease progression across different subsystems (e.g., visual, motor and sensory), providing evidence that can potentially explain the mechanisms underlying the sensorimotor and cognitive deficits related to HE.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772516224000639Hepatic encephalopathySurface-based morphometry (SBM)Cortical thicknessSensorimotor
spellingShingle Guanchen Sha
Yuefan Liu
Yutong Cao
Qi Zhang
Yining Zhang
Yuanyuan Chen
Qiuyun Fan
Yue Cheng
Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy
Magnetic Resonance Letters
Hepatic encephalopathy
Surface-based morphometry (SBM)
Cortical thickness
Sensorimotor
title Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy
title_full Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy
title_fullStr Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy
title_full_unstemmed Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy
title_short Structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy
title_sort structural and functional neural correlates of sensorimotor deficits in progression of hepatic encephalopathy
topic Hepatic encephalopathy
Surface-based morphometry (SBM)
Cortical thickness
Sensorimotor
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772516224000639
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