Frequency-dependent changes in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a resting-state fMRI study

Here we utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) to measure the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) in 24 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and 24 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Two different frequency bands (slow-5: 0.01-0.027 Hz; slow-4: 0.027-0.073 Hz) were analyzed. We showed that there were widespread differences in ALFF/fALFF between the two bands in many brain regions, predominantly including the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC/PCu), basal ganglia, and hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). Compared to controls, the aMCI patients had decreased ALFF/fALFF values in the PCC/PCu, MPFC, hippocampus/PHG, basal ganglia, and prefrontal regions, and increased ALFF/fALFF values mainly in several occipital and temporal regions. Specifically, we observed that the ALFF/fALFF abnormalities in the PCC/PCu, PHG, and several occipital regions were greater in the slow-5 band than in the slow-4 band. Finally, our results of functional analysis were not significantly influenced by the gray matter loss in the MCI patients, suggesting that the results reflect functional differences between groups. Together, our data suggest that aMCI patients have widespread abnormalities in intrinsic brain activity, and the abnormalities depend on the studied frequency bands of R-fMRI data.