A specific pattern of altered connectivity between the default mode network and the insula, detected via unsupervised fusion of functional and structural MRI, was found in 39 people with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis over one year. This pattern was linked to cognitive performance, and its associated genes were enriched in DNA damage repair, energy metabolism, and cellular activation. The baseline pattern predicted future cognition in this group, and similar brain-cognition associations were validated in independent cohorts with major depressive disorder (n=60), mild cognitive impairment (n=291), and Alzheimer's disease (n=77).
Psychotic disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder involve disruptions in the brain's information processing. Using resting-state fMRI and information-theoretic metrics, the authors show that the psychotic brain exhibits states of randomness across both spatial and temporal dimensions. They found a disruption in the balance between redundant and synergistic information, termed brainquake, indicating instability and disorganization in brain networks. Aberrant information interactions were observed in cortical and subcortical intrinsic connectivity networks, particularly in sensorimotor, visual, temporal, default mode, and fronto-parietal networks, as well as hippocampal and amygdalar regions. These findings suggest profound alterations in the brain's complexity and organizational states.