Effects of Tai Chi on the topologies of brain network in patients with type 2 diabetes and mild cognitive impairment
Objective:To investigate the impact of Tai Chi on brain network topology in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)and mild cognitive impairment(MCI).Method:Patients with T2DM and MCI were recruited and randomly assigned to three groups:Tai Chi group(n=33),fitness walking group(n=31),and health education control group(n=35).Cognitive function was as-sessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA)at baseline and after 24 weeks of intervention.Mag-netic resonance imaging(MRI)and graph theory methods were used to analyze characteristic path length,be-tweenness centrality,and nodal efficiency to evaluate brain network topology.Result:After 24 weeks,the MoCA score of the Tai Chi group significantly improved compared to the con-trol group(P=0.016),but there was no significant difference compared to the fitness walking group.No signif-icant changes in characteristic path length were observed among the three groups.Compared to the control group,the betweenness centrality in the Tai Chi group significantly increased in the right precentral gyrus,right middle temporal gyrus(temporoccipital part),and left angular gyrus.Additionally,the betweenness cen-trality in the bilateral middle temporal gyri(temporoccipital part)was higher in the Tai Chi group than in the fitness walking group.Nodal efficiency in the right supramarginal gyrus(posterior part)significantly increased in the Tai Chi group compared to the control group.Correlation analysis showed that the change in between-ness centrality of the left middle temporal gyrus in the Tai Chi group was positively correlated with the change in MoCA score(r=0.642,P<0.001),and the nodal efficiency of the right supramarginal gyrus was also positively correlated with the change in MoCA score(r=0.372,P=0.033).Conclusion:This study preliminarily reveals that Tai Chi may improve cognitive function in patients with T2DM and MCI by modulating the local topological properties of brain networks,particularly in the left mid-dle temporal gyrus and right supramarginal gyrus.
Tai ChiType 2 diabetes mellitusmild cognitive impairmentbrain networktopologyresting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging