Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are commonly observed since the early stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) associated with structural brain changes. It is conceivable that they may also relate to functional brain changes. This resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) study investigated the alterations within functional brain networks of a cohort of AD patients at different clinical stages who presented with BPSD. One hundred one AD patients and 56 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment underwent a neuropsychological evaluation including the Neuropsychiatry Inventory-12 (NPI-12). All patients and 35 healthy controls (HS) underwent 3T-MRI. Factor analysis was used to extract the principal factors from NPI-12, while RS-fMRI data were processed using graph theory to investigate functional connectivity. Five factors were extracted from NPI-12. Sixty-two percent of patients showed BPSD and functional brain connectivity changes in various networks compared to those without BPSD and HS. These changes contributed to account for patients' BPSD. This work opens new perspectives in terms of nonpharmacological interventions that might be designed to modulate brain connectivity and improve patients' BPSD.

中文翻译：

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痴呆症的行为心理症状和功能连接变化。基于网络的研究

自阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 的早期阶段以来，通常会观察到痴呆 (BPSD) 的行为和心理症状，与大脑结构变化相关。可以想象，它们也可能与功能性大脑变化有关。这项静息状态功能性 MRI (RS-fMRI) 研究调查了一组处于不同临床阶段的患有 BPSD 的 AD 患者的功能性脑网络内的变化。101 名 AD 患者和 56 名遗忘型轻度认知障碍患者接受了神经心理学评估，包括 Neuropsychiatry Inventory-12 (NPI-12)。所有患者和 35 名健康对照 (HS) 均接受了 3T-MRI。因子分析用于从 NPI-12 中提取主要因子，同时使用图论处理 RS-fMRI 数据以研究功能连通性。从 NPI-12 中提取了五个因素。与没有 BPSD 和 HS 的患者相比，62% 的患者在各种网络中表现出 BPSD 和功能性大脑连接的变化。这些变化有助于解释患者的 BPSD。这项工作在非药物干预方面开辟了新的视角，这些干预可能旨在调节大脑连接并改善患者的 BPSD。