Brain structure and function changes in inflammatory bowel disease

As the importance of the brain-gut axis in the pathobiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) continues to evolve, a greater understanding of brain structure and functional connectivity (FC) is necessary. In this magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, we investigated differences in brain structure and in FC of brain regions in 111 participants with IBD (76 ulcerative colitis (UC) and 35 Crohn's disease (CD)) and 74 healthy controls (HC). Significant differences between IBD and HC were observed in the three analyses used (voxel based morphometry, region-of-interest, and independent component analysis) in brain regions of the default mode, cerebellar, and visual networks. Significant differences between IBD subtypes (UC, CD) were found. The results of the current study establish that a relationship between brain functional connectivity and the brain-gut axis exists in IBD.