Neurovascular decoupling of frontoparietal cortex-putamen-cerebellum network in type 2 diabetes patient: Potential biomarker for abnormal eating patterns.

Aim: High rates of dropout and binge eating triggered by restrictive diet limit the effectiveness of dietary interventions in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, it remains unclear what the potential central underpinnings of T2DM-specific dietary behavior characteristics are.

Methods: 41 T2DM patients and 43 matched healthy controls (HC) who underwent resting state functional MRI were enrolled to screen for the suspicious network by effective connectivity (EC) analysis and to explore its dynamic temporal and neurovascular coupling properties. Additionally, the timeline of neuropathological changes during T2DM progression was evaluated.

Results: Increased uncontrolled eating, internal and external loci of hunger were found in T2DM. EC of the frontoparietal cortex-putamen-cerebellum network was significantly higher in T2DM patients (P = 0.023). The fractional windows (P = 0.009) and mean dwell time (P = 0.009) of the densest state were significantly higher in T2DM patients. Neurovascular decoupling of the frontoparietal cortex-putamen-cerebellum network was correlated with these T2DM-specific eating behavior characteristics. Neurovascular decoupling coefficient of right putamen (Putamen_R) changed at the very beginning of T2DM.

Conclusion: The frontoparietal cortex-putamen-cerebellum network was the suspicious T2DM-related abnormal eating pattern network. Neurovascular decoupling of the network, especially that of Putamen_R, occurred early and might serve as a biomarker for abnormal eating patterns in T2DM patients.