ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1630294
This article is part of the Research TopicNeuroimaging in affective neuroscienceView all articles
Transcriptional and neurotransmitter signatures of cerebral spontaneous neural activity in nurses with burnout
Provisionally accepted
Chun-Mei Song1,2Jian-Ping Liu3
Hu-cheng Yang4Qing-He Li5Shu Wang6Hai-Juan Chen5Shu-Fang Wang3Li Chen5
Si-Yu Gu6*
Feng Zhang7*
Ping-Lei Pan3*- 1School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Nantong University, Nantong, China
- 2Department of Disinfection Supply Center, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng, China
- 3Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng, China
- 4Department of Radiology, Binhai Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Yancheng, China
- 5Department of Nursing, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng, China
- 6Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng, China
- 7School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Nantong University, Yancheng, China
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Objective: To investigate the neural and molecular correlates of occupational burnout in nurses by integrating resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), clinical assessments, brain-wide gene expression, and neurotransmitter atlases.Methods: Fifty-one female nurses meeting burnout criteria and 51 matched healthy controls underwent 3T rs-fMRI. We analyzed fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC), correlating findings with burnout (emotional exhaustion [EE], depersonalization [DP], and personal accomplishment [PA]). The fALFF t-map was spatially correlated with Allen Human Brain Atlas gene expression (followed by gene ontology enrichment) and neurotransmitter system maps.: Nurses with burnout exhibited significantly decreased precuneus fALFF and reduced precuneus-right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) FC compared to controls. The fALFF in the precuneus negatively correlated with EE and DP, and positively correlated with PA, while reduced precuneus-DLPFC FC negatively correlated with EE. Genes spatially associated with fALFF alterations were enriched in pathways involving neuronal excitability, synaptic organization, stress response, and immune modulation. The fALFF alteration pattern also spatially correlated with serotonin, norepinephrine, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, and endocannabinoid system distributions. Conclusions: Nurse burnout features precuneus hypoactivity and precuneus-DLPFC hypoconnectivity, linked to EE and DP severity. Associated molecular signatures implicate altered neuronal excitability, stress/immune pathways, and multiple neurotransmitter systems. The precuneus-DLPFC circuit and identified molecular pathways represent potential targets for interventions against burnout.
Keywords: Burnout syndrome, Nurse, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, Imaging transcriptomics, Neurotransmitter Systems, Precuneus
Received: 17 May 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Song, Liu, Yang, Li, Wang, Chen, Wang, Chen, Gu, Zhang and Pan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Si-Yu Gu, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng, China
Feng Zhang, School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Nantong University, Yancheng, China
Ping-Lei Pan, Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University, Yancheng, China
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