Topological differences of striato‐thalamo‐cortical circuit in functional brain network between premature ejaculation patients with and without depression

Introduction Premature ejaculation (PE), a common male sexual dysfunction, often accompanies by abnormal psychological factors, such as depression. Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed structural and functional brain abnormalities in PE patients. However, there is limited neurological evidence supporting the comorbidity of PE and depression. This study aimed to explore the topological changes of the functional brain networks of PE patients with depression. Methods Resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI) data were acquired from 60 PE patients (30 with depression and 30 without depression) and 29 healthy controls (HCs). Functional brain networks were constructed for all participants based on rs‐fMRI data. The nodal parameters including nodal centrality and efficiency were calculated by the method of graph theory analysis and then compared between groups. In addition, the results were corrected for multiple comparisons by family‐wise error (FWE) (p