title: [Aberrant topological properties of whole-brain functional network in chronic right-sided sensorineural hearing loss: a resting-state functional MRI study].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the topological properties of the functional brain network in unilateral sensorineural hearing loss patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we acquired resting-state BOLD- fMRI data from 19 right-sided SNHL patients and 31 healthy controls with normal hearing and constructed their whole brain functional networks. Two-sample two-tailed t-tests were performed to investigate group differences in topological parameters between the USNHL patients and the controls. Partial correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationships between the network metrics and USNHL-related variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both USNHL patients and controls exhibited small-word architecture in their brain functional networks within the range 0. 1 - 0. 2 of sparsity. Compared to the controls, USNHL patients showed significant increase in characteristic path length and normalized characteristic path length, but significant decrease in global efficiency. Clustering coefficient, local efficiency and normalized clustering coefficient demonstrated no significant difference. Furthermore, USNHL patients exhibited no significant association between the altered network metrics and the duration of USNHL or the severity of hearing loss.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicated the altered topological properties of whole brain functional networks in USNHL patients, which may help us to understand pathophysiologic mechanism of USNHL patients.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yangwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Yaqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhichun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huan
authors.forename: Zhaorui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hou
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging