1
|
Dagnino PC, Escrichs A, López-González A, Gosseries O, Annen J, Sanz Perl Y, Kringelbach ML, Laureys S, Deco G. Re-awakening the brain: Forcing transitions in disorders of consciousness by external in silico perturbation. PLoS Comput Biol 2024; 20:e1011350. [PMID: 38701063 PMCID: PMC11068192 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
A fundamental challenge in neuroscience is accurately defining brain states and predicting how and where to perturb the brain to force a transition. Here, we investigated resting-state fMRI data of patients suffering from disorders of consciousness (DoC) after coma (minimally conscious and unresponsive wakefulness states) and healthy controls. We applied model-free and model-based approaches to help elucidate the underlying brain mechanisms of patients with DoC. The model-free approach allowed us to characterize brain states in DoC and healthy controls as a probabilistic metastable substate (PMS) space. The PMS of each group was defined by a repertoire of unique patterns (i.e., metastable substates) with different probabilities of occurrence. In the model-based approach, we adjusted the PMS of each DoC group to a causal whole-brain model. This allowed us to explore optimal strategies for promoting transitions by applying off-line in silico probing. Furthermore, this approach enabled us to evaluate the impact of local perturbations in terms of their global effects and sensitivity to stimulation, which is a model-based biomarker providing a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying DoC. Our results show that transitions were obtained in a synchronous protocol, in which the somatomotor network, thalamus, precuneus and insula were the most sensitive areas to perturbation. This motivates further work to continue understanding brain function and treatments of disorders of consciousness.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paulina Clara Dagnino
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Anira Escrichs
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Ane López-González
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Olivia Gosseries
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- Centre du Cerveau 2, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Jitka Annen
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- Centre du Cerveau 2, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Yonatan Sanz Perl
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Paris, France
| | - Morten L. Kringelbach
- Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Steven Laureys
- Joint International Research Unit on Consciousness, CERVO Brain Research Centre, University of Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada
| | - Gustavo Deco
- Computational Neuroscience Group, Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Institució Catalana de la Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wu C, Wu H, Zhou C, Guan X, Guo T, Cao Z, Wu J, Liu X, Chen J, Wen J, Qin J, Tan S, Duanmu X, Yuan W, Zheng Q, Zhang B, Huang P, Xu X, Zhang M. Cholinergic basal forebrain system degeneration underlies postural instability/gait difficulty and attention impairment in Parkinson's disease. Eur J Neurol 2024; 31:e16108. [PMID: 37877681 DOI: 10.1111/ene.16108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The specific pathophysiological mechanisms underlying postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) and cognitive function in Parkinson's disease (PD) remain unclear. Both postural and gait control, as well as cognitive function, are associated with the cholinergic basal forebrain (cBF) system. METHODS A total of 84 PD patients and 82 normal controls were enrolled. Each participant underwent motor and cognitive assessments. Diffusion tensor imaging was used to detect structural abnormalities in the cBF system. The cBF was segmented using FreeSurfer, and its fiber tract was traced using probabilistic tractography. To provide information on extracellular water accumulation, free-water fraction (FWf) was quantified. FWf in the cBF and its fiber tract, as well as cortical projection density, were extracted for statistical analyses. RESULTS Patients had significantly higher FWf in the cBF (p < 0.001) and fiber tract (p = 0.021) than normal controls, as well as significantly lower cBF projection in the occipital (p < 0.001), parietal (p < 0.001) and prefrontal cortex (p = 0.005). In patients, a higher FWf in the cBF correlated with worse PIGD score (r = 0.306, p = 0.006) and longer Trail Making Test A time (r = 0.303, p = 0.007). Attentional function (Trail Making Test A) partially mediated the association between FWf in the cBF and PIGD score (indirect effect, a*b = 0.071; total effect, c = 0.256; p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that degeneration of the cBF system in PD, from the cBF to its fiber tract and cortical projection, plays an important role in cognitive-motor interaction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chenqing Wu
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Haoting Wu
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Cheng Zhou
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaojun Guan
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Tao Guo
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhengye Cao
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jingjing Wu
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaocao Liu
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jingwen Chen
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiaqi Wen
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jianmei Qin
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Sijia Tan
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaojie Duanmu
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Weijin Yuan
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qianshi Zheng
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Baorong Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Peiyu Huang
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaojun Xu
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Minming Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|