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Dynamic functional connectivity variability may explain hypoxia-induced cognitive impairment at high-altitude.

Overview

Authors: Siyao Zeng1, Sijia Guo1, Yang Zhou1, Jiebing He1, Yang Ou1, Tingting Yang1, Jia Wang2, Wensheng Zhai3, Baojuan Li3, Jie Liu4, Wenjing Luo1, Xiaoming Chen1
ORCID iDs: Xiaoming Chen
  1. The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Hazard Assessment and Control in Special Operational Environments, Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and Protection, Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710032, China
  2. Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710032, China
  3. School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710032, China
  4. The General Hospital of PLA Xizang Military Area Command, Lhasa, Xizang 850007, China
Institutions: Air Force Medical University (China); Xijing Hospital (China)
Journal: iScience, volume 29, issue 8, article 117015
Dates: received 14 December 2025; accepted 15 July 2026; published online 3 August 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117015 · PMID 42598111 · PMCID PMC13470281 · OpenAlex W7172288745
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code on request
Categories: structural MRI / diffusion (modality), fMRI (modality), systems (subfield)
Methods: Spectral & time-frequency, Connectivity, Statistics, Machine learning, Preprocessing, fMRI & imaging
Keywords: high altitude, cognitive impairments, dynamic functional connectivity, magnetic resonance imaging
Topic: High Altitude and Hypoxia (Genetics, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82271920, 82230063); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2024M764331); University Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Province (2025JC-YBQN-1079)
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 40 references in the paper

Abstract

Long-term exposure to a high-altitude (HA) hypoxic environment induces cognitive impairments, yet the underlying temporal mechanisms remain elusive. This longitudinal study investigated brain functional alterations associated with cognitive changes in 49 college freshmen relocated from sea level to Tibet, with comprehensive cognitive assessments and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline and 2- and 4-year follow-ups. Resting-state fMRI quantified changes in regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF)/fractional ALFF (fALFF), static functional connectivity (sFC), and dynamic FC (dFC). Behavioral data confirmed persistent cognitive deficits, while neuroimaging analyses revealed biphasic patterns (initial suppression then partial/full recovery) in ReHo, ALFF/fALFF, and sFC. Notably, dFC variability in the right orbital middle frontal gyrus (ORBmid.R) and Heschl’s gyrus (HES.R) increased at 2 years and remained elevated, with this alteration strongly correlated with cognitive changes. Our findings highlight that elevated dFC variability in two brain regions is a key contributor to chronic hypoxia-induced cognitive impairments.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

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Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data and code availability

• All data reported in this paper will be made available from the lead contact upon request. • The code reported in this paper will be made available from the lead contact upon request. • Any additional information required to reanalyze the data reported in this paper is available from the lead contact upon reasonable request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 3, 28 September 2026

  • Authors: added Xiaoming Chen (0009-0003-2084-7110); removed Xiaoming Chen

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 12 authors, 4 keywords, 3 funders, 40 references.

Cite

This paper

Zeng, S., Guo, S., Zhou, Y., He, J., Ou, Y., Yang, T., Wang, J., Zhai, W., Li, B., Liu, J., Luo, W., & Chen, X. (2026). Dynamic functional connectivity variability may explain hypoxia-induced cognitive impairment at high-altitude. iScience, 29(8), 117015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117015

BibTeX

@article{zeng2026dynamic,
author = {Zeng, Siyao and Guo, Sijia and Zhou, Yang and He, Jiebing and Ou, Yang and Yang, Tingting and Wang, Jia and Zhai, Wensheng and Li, Baojuan and Liu, Jie and Luo, Wenjing and Chen, Xiaoming},
title = {{Dynamic functional connectivity variability may explain hypoxia-induced cognitive impairment at high-altitude}},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
volume = {29},
number = {8},
pages = {117015},
publisher = {Elsevier},
issn = {2589-0042},
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117015},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117015},
pmid = {42598111},
pmcid = {PMC13470281}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Zeng, Siyao
AU - Guo, Sijia
AU - Zhou, Yang
AU - He, Jiebing
AU - Ou, Yang
AU - Yang, Tingting
AU - Wang, Jia
AU - Zhai, Wensheng
AU - Li, Baojuan
AU - Liu, Jie
AU - Luo, Wenjing
AU - Chen, Xiaoming
TI - Dynamic functional connectivity variability may explain hypoxia-induced cognitive impairment at high-altitude
T2 - iScience
J2 - iScience
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/03
VL - 29
IS - 8
SP - 117015
SN - 2589-0042
PB - Elsevier
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117015
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117015
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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