Aberrant Functional Connectivity Patterns in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Subregions of Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Depressive Symptoms

Motivation: Atrophy and hyperactivity of the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC) are key drivers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and its psychiatric comorbidity. Goal(s): Resting-state fMRI was performed to observe the functional connectivity (FC) patterns of ACC subregions in IBS with depressive symptoms patients to explore the potential neural mechanism of IBS and its comorbidity depression. Approach: Seed-based whole-brain FC analysis was performed and distinct subregions of ACC showed different whole-brain connectivity patterns in IBS patients. Results: The aberrant FC within the emotional arousal network, salience network and executive network may be characteristic neurobiological markers of IBS with comorbidity depression. Impact: The aberrant FC within the emotional arousal network may be a characteristic neurobiological marker of IBS with comorbidity depression. In addition, the abnormal FC between the salience network and the executive network may be the underlying neural mechanism of IBS.