BackgroundThe onset of anorexia nervosa (AN) frequently occurs during adolescence and is associated with preoccupation with body weight and shape and extreme underweight. Altered resting state functional connectivity in the brain has been described in individuals with AN, but only from a static perspective. The current study investigated the temporal dynamics of functional connectivity in adolescents with AN and how it relates to clinical features.Method99 female patients acutely ill with AN and 99 pairwise age‐matched female healthy control (HC) participants were included in the study. Using resting‐state functional MRI data and an established sliding‐window analytic approach, we identified dynamic resting‐state functional connectivity states and extracted dynamic indices such as dwell time (the duration spent in a state), fraction time (the proportion of the total time occupied by a state), and number of transitions (number of switches) from one state to another, to test for group differences.ResultsIndividuals with AN had relatively reduced fraction time in a mildly connected state with pronounced connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) and an overall reduced number of transitions between states.ConclusionsThese findings revealed by a dynamic, but not static analytic approach might hint towards a more “rigid” connectivity, a phenomenon commonly observed in internalizing mental disorders, and in AN possibly related to a reduction in energetic costs as a result of nutritional deprivation.

中文翻译：

---

神经性厌食症的动态功能连接：低连接状态和状态转换的改变

背景神经性厌食症 (AN) 的发作经常发生在青春期，并且与过分注重体重和体形以及体重极度不足有关。AN 患者的大脑静息状态功能连接发生改变，但只是从静态角度进行描述。目前的研究调查了患有 AN 的青少年功能连接的时间动态及其与临床特征的关系。方法 99 名患有 AN 急性疾病的女性患者和 99 名年龄匹配的女性健康对照 (HC) 参与者被纳入研究。使用静息态功能 MRI 数据和已建立的滑动窗口分析方法，我们识别了动态静息态功能连接状态并提取了动态指标，例如停留时间（处于某种状态的持续时间）、分数时间（占总时间的比例）。一种状态所占用的时间），以及从一种状态到另一种状态的转换次数（切换次数），以测试群体差异。结果具有 AN 的个体在默认模式网络内具有明显连接性的轻度连接状态中的分数时间相对减少（ DMN）以及状态之间的转换数量总体减少。结论这些通过动态而非静态分析方法揭示的发现可能暗示着更“刚性”的连接，这是一种在内化精神障碍中常见的现象，并且在 AN 中可能与由于营养缺乏而导致的能量消耗减少。