Kaundinya Gopinath1,2, Wendy Ringe3,
Luo Ouyang1, Kirstine Carter3, Binod Thapa-Chhetry1,
Lisa Butler1, Aman Goyal1, Parina Gandhi1,
Yan Fang1, Sandeep Ganji1, Lei Jiang1,
Saurabh Vaidya1, Richard Briggs1,2, Robert Haley2
1Department of Radiology,
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 2Department
of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United
States; 3Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center,
Dallas, TX, United States
This study used functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) to examine functional connectivity of the dorsal (DS) and ventral (VS) striatum in Gulf War Illness Syndrome 2 veterans (Syn2) and healthy controls, under three different continuous state conditions: eyes open resting (REST), visual fixation (FIX) and transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS). Results show that functional connectivity differences between controls and Syn2 seems to depend on the continuous state employed. During REST condition, Syn2 exhibited weaker striatal functional connectivity than controls to DMN. On the other hand, during FIX and TENS, DS functional connectivity to sensory and attention areas were significantly stronger in Syn2.