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Zheng B, Liu DD, Theyel BB, Abdulrazeq H, Kimata AR, Lauro PM, Asaad WF. Thalamic neuromodulation in epilepsy: A primer for emerging circuit-based therapies. Expert Rev Neurother 2023; 23:123-140. [PMID: 36731858 DOI: 10.1080/14737175.2023.2176752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Epilepsy is a common, often debilitating disease of hyperexcitable neural networks. While medically intractable cases may benefit from surgery, there may be no single, well-localized focus for resection or ablation. In such cases, approaching the disease from a network-based perspective may be beneficial. AREAS COVERED Herein, the authors provide a narrative review of normal thalamic anatomy and physiology and propose general strategies for preventing and/or aborting seizures by modulating this structure. Additionally, they make specific recommendations for targeting the thalamus within different contexts, motivated by a more detailed discussion of its distinct nuclei and their respective connectivity. By describing important principles governing thalamic function and its involvement in seizure networks, the authors aim to provide a primer for those now entering this fast-growing field of thalamic neuromodulation for epilepsy. EXPERT OPINION The thalamus is critically involved with the function of many cortical and subcortical areas, suggesting it may serve as a compelling node for preventing or aborting seizures, and so it has increasingly been targeted for the surgical treatment of epilepsy. As various thalamic neuromodulation strategies for seizure control are developed, there is a need to ground such interventions in a mechanistic, circuit-based framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan Zheng
- The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.,Department of Neurosurgery, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - David D Liu
- The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Brian B Theyel
- Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Hael Abdulrazeq
- Department of Neurosurgery, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Anna R Kimata
- The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.,Department of Neurosurgery, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Peter M Lauro
- The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Wael F Asaad
- Department of Neurosurgery, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.,The Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.,The Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
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Tung H, Pan SY, Lan TH, Lin YY, Peng SJ. Characterization of Hippocampal-Thalamic-Cortical Morphometric Reorganization in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Front Neurol 2022; 12:810186. [PMID: 35222230 PMCID: PMC8866816 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.810186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
IntroductionBrain cortico-subcortical connectivity has been investigated in epilepsy using the functional MRI (MRI). Although structural images cannot demonstrate dynamic changes, they provide higher spatial resolution, which allows exploration of the organization of brain in greater detail.MethodsWe used high-resolution brain MRI to study the hippocampal-thalamic-cortical networks in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) using a volume-based morphometric method. We enrolled 22 right-TLE, 33 left-TLE, and 28 age/gender-matched controls retrospectively. FreeSurfer software was used for the thalamus segmentation.ResultsAmong the 50 subfields, ipsilateral anterior, lateral, and parts of the intralaminar and medial nuclei, as well as the contralateral parts of lateral nuclei had significant volume loss in both TLE. The anteroventral nucleus was most vulnerable. Most thalamic subfields were susceptible to seizure burden, especially the left-TLE. SPM12 was used to conduct an analysis of the gray matter density (GMD) maps. Decreased extratemporal GMD occurred bilaterally. Both TLE demonstrated significant GMD loss over the ipsilateral inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, and medial orbital cortices.SignificanceThalamic subfield atrophy was related to the ipsilateral inferior frontal GMD changes, which presented positively in left-TLE and negatively in right-TLE. These findings suggest prefrontal-thalamo-hippocampal network disruption in TLE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin Tung
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Center of Faculty Development, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
- Division of Epilepsy, Neurological Institute, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Szu-Yen Pan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Tsuo-Hung Lan
- Tsaotun Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Nantou, Taiwan
- Department of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Research, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yung-Yang Lin
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- Institute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Syu-Jyun Peng
- Professional Master Program in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
- *Correspondence: Syu-Jyun Peng
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Tabatabaee S, Bahrami F, Janahmadi M. The Critical Modulatory Role of Spiny Stellate Cells in Seizure Onset Based on Dynamic Analysis of a Neural Mass Model. Front Neurosci 2022; 15:743720. [PMID: 35002598 PMCID: PMC8739215 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.743720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that excitatory neurons in the brain play a significant role in seizure generation. Nonetheless, spiny stellate cells are cortical excitatory non-pyramidal neurons in the brain, whose basic role in seizure occurrence is not well understood. In the present research, we study the critical role of spiny stellate cells or the excitatory interneurons (EI), for the first time, in epileptic seizure generation using an extended neural mass model inspired by a thalamocortical model originally introduced by another research group. Applying bifurcation analysis on this modified model, we investigated the rich dynamics corresponding to the epileptic seizure onset and transition between interictal and ictal states caused by EI connectivity to other cell types. Our results indicate that the transition between interictal and ictal states (preictal signal) corresponds to a supercritical Hopf bifurcation, and thus, the extended model suggests that before seizure onset, the amplitude and frequency of neural activities gradually increase. Moreover, we showed that (1) the altered function of GABAergic and glutamatergic receptors of EI can cause seizure, and (2) the pathway between the thalamic relay nucleus and EI facilitates the transition from interictal to ictal activity by decreasing the preictal period. Thereafter, we considered both sensory and cortical periodic inputs to study model responses to various harmonic stimulations. Bifurcation analysis of the model, in this case, suggests that the initial state of the model might be the main cause for the transition between interictal and ictal states as the stimulus frequency changes. The extended thalamocortical model shows also that the amplitude jump phenomenon and non-linear resonance behavior result from the preictal state of the modified model. These results can be considered as a step forward to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the transition from normal activities to epileptic activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saba Tabatabaee
- Human Motor Control and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fariba Bahrami
- Human Motor Control and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mahyar Janahmadi
- Department of Physiology, Neuroscience Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Zhang J, Chang Y, Ding S. Disrupted hypothalamic functional connectivity related to cognitive impairment after diffuse axonal injury. Medicine (Baltimore) 2021; 100:e27805. [PMID: 35049180 PMCID: PMC9191382 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000027805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aims to investigate whether there is imaging evidence of disrupted hypothalamic functional connectivity (FC) in patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) and relationships with cognitive impairment.Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from acute patients with diagnosed DAI (n = 30) and healthy controls (HC) (n = 30). We first assessed hypothalamic FC with seed-based analysis. Furthermore, the lateral and medial hypothalamic seed was selected to show distinct functional connectivity in DAI. In addition, partial correlation was used to measure the clinical associations with the altered hypothalamic FC in DAI patients.Compared with HC, DAI group showed significantly increased hypothalamic FC with superior temporal gyrus, and the regions around the operculum. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between the connectivity coefficient of hypothalamus to right and left superior temporal gyrus and the disability rating scale scores in DAI group. When the seed regions were divided into lateral and medial hypothalamus, except for increased connectivity of medial hypothalamus (P < .01 with correction), we more observed that decreased left lateral hypothalamic connectivity was positively correlated with mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores.Our results suggest that there are alterations of hypothalamic FC in DAI and offer further understanding of clinical symptoms including related cognitive impairment.
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Arski ON, Wong SM, Warsi NM, Martire DJ, Ochi A, Otsubo H, Donner E, Jain P, Kerr EN, Smith ML, Ibrahim GM. Spectral changes following resective epilepsy surgery and neurocognitive function in children with epilepsy. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:1614-1621. [PMID: 34550020 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00434.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Decelerated resting cortical oscillations, high-frequency activity, and enhanced cross-frequency interactions are features of focal epilepsy. The association between electrophysiological signal properties and neurocognitive function, particularly following resective surgery, is, however, unclear. In the current report, we studied intraoperative recordings from intracranial electrodes implanted in seven children with focal epilepsy and analyzed the spectral dynamics both before and after surgical resection of the hypothesized seizure focus. The associations between electrophysiological spectral signatures and each child's neurocognitive profiles were characterized using a partial least squares analysis. We find that extent of spectral alteration at the periphery of surgical resection, as indexed by slowed resting frequency and its acceleration following surgery, is associated with baseline cognitive deficits in children. The current report provides evidence supporting the relationship between altered spectral properties in focal epilepsy and neuropsychological deficits in children. In particular, these findings suggest a critical role of disrupted thalamocortical rhythms, which are believed to underlie the spectral alterations we describe, in both epileptogenicity and neurocognitive function.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Spectral alterations marked by decelerated resting oscillations and ectopic high-frequency activity have been noted in focal epilepsy. We leveraged intraoperative recordings from chronically implanted electrodes pre- and postresection to understand the association between these electrophysiological phenomena and neuropsychological function. We find that the extent of spectral alteration, indexed by slowed resting frequency and its acceleration following resection, is associated with baseline cognitive deficits. These findings provide novel insights into neurocognitive impairments in focal epilepsy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia N Arski
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Simeon M Wong
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nebras M Warsi
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Daniel J Martire
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ayako Ochi
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Hiroshi Otsubo
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elizabeth Donner
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Puneet Jain
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elizabeth N Kerr
- Division of Psychology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mary Lou Smith
- Division of Psychology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - George M Ibrahim
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Structural and functional motor-network disruptions predict selective action-concept deficits: Evidence from frontal lobe epilepsy. Cortex 2021; 144:43-55. [PMID: 34637999 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Built on neurodegenerative lesions models, the disrupted motor grounding hypothesis (DMGH) posits that motor-system alterations selectively impair action comprehension. However, major doubts remain concerning the dissociability, neural signatures, and etiological generalizability of such deficits. Few studies have compared action-concept outcomes between disorders affecting and sparing motor circuitry, and none has examined their multimodal network predictors via data-driven approaches. Here, we first assessed action- and object-concept processing in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE), patients with posterior cortex epilepsy (PCE), and healthy controls. Then, we examined structural and functional network signatures via diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state connectivity measures. Finally, we used these measures to predict behavioral performance with an XGBoost machine learning regression algorithm. Relative to controls, FLE (but not PCE) patients exhibited selective action-concept deficits together with structural and functional abnormalities along motor networks. The XGBoost model reached a significantly large effect size only for action-concept outcomes in FLE, mainly predicted by structural (cortico-spinal tract, anterior thalamic radiation, uncinate fasciculus) and functional (M1-parietal/supramarginal connectivity) motor networks. These results extend the DMGH, suggesting that action-concept deficits are dissociable markers of frontal/motor (relative to posterior) disruptions, directly related to the structural and functional integrity of motor networks, and traceable beyond canonical movement disorders.
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Structural and functional brain changes in X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: insights from a multimodal neuroimaging study. Neuroradiology 2021; 64:543-552. [PMID: 34498107 DOI: 10.1007/s00234-021-02730-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Brain involvement in X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMTX) has been previously reported. We studied the brain structural and functional integrity using a multimodal neuroimaging approach in patients with no current central nervous system (CNS) symptoms, in order to further delineate the disease's phenotype. METHODS Seventeen CMTX patients with no current CNS symptoms and 24 matched healthy controls underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Structural integrity was evaluated performing Gray matter analysis with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Functional integrity was evaluated with resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). RESULTS Decreased gray matter density was detected in CMTX patients compared to healthy controls in bilateral hippocampus, left thalamus, left postcentral gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, left cerebellum crus I and II, and vermis VI. DTI analysis showed increased fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity in the right anterior insula and increased axial diffusivity in right cerebellum crus I in CMTX patients. rs-fMRI revealed decreased spontaneous neural activity on left precentral gyrus in patients compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSION Advanced magnetic resonance (MR) neuroimaging techniques in CMTX patients revealed structural and functional involvement of multiple motor and extra-motor brain areas. MR neuroimaging techniques have the potential to delineate the CNS phenotype of a peripheral neuropathy like CMTX.
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Moguilner S, Birba A, Fino D, Isoardi R, Huetagoyena C, Otoya R, Tirapu V, Cremaschi F, Sedeño L, Ibáñez A, García AM. Multimodal neurocognitive markers of frontal lobe epilepsy: Insights from ecological text processing. Neuroimage 2021; 235:117998. [PMID: 33789131 PMCID: PMC8272524 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The pressing call to detect sensitive cognitive markers of frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) remains poorly addressed. Standard frameworks prove nosologically unspecific (as they reveal deficits that also emerge across other epilepsy subtypes), possess low ecological validity, and are rarely supported by multimodal neuroimaging assessments. To bridge these gaps, we examined naturalistic action and non-action text comprehension, combined with structural and functional connectivity measures, in 19 FLE patients, 19 healthy controls, and 20 posterior cortex epilepsy (PCE) patients. Our analyses integrated inferential statistics and data-driven machine-learning classifiers. FLE patients were selectively and specifically impaired in action comprehension, irrespective of their neuropsychological profile. These deficits selectively and specifically correlated with (a) reduced integrity of the anterior thalamic radiation, a subcortical structure underlying motoric and action-language processing as well as epileptic seizure spread in this subtype; and (b) hypoconnectivity between the primary motor cortex and the left-parietal/supramarginal regions, two putative substrates of action-language comprehension. Moreover, machine-learning classifiers based on the above neurocognitive measures yielded 75% accuracy rates in discriminating individual FLE patients from both controls and PCE patients. Briefly, action-text assessments, combined with structural and functional connectivity measures, seem to capture ecological cognitive deficits that are specific to FLE, opening new avenues for discriminatory characterizations among epilepsy types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Moguilner
- Global Brain Health Institute, UCSF, California, US, & Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Nuclear Medicine School Foundation (FUESMEN), National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Agustina Birba
- University of San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniel Fino
- Nuclear Medicine School Foundation (FUESMEN), National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA), Mendoza, Argentina; Fundación Argentina para el Desarrollo en Salud, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Roberto Isoardi
- Nuclear Medicine School Foundation (FUESMEN), National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Celeste Huetagoyena
- Neuromed, Clinical Neuroscience, Mendoza, Argentina; Universidad Católica Argentina
| | - Raúl Otoya
- Neuromed, Clinical Neuroscience, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Viviana Tirapu
- Nuclear Medicine School Foundation (FUESMEN), National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA), Mendoza, Argentina; Neuromed, Clinical Neuroscience, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Fabián Cremaschi
- Nuclear Medicine School Foundation (FUESMEN), National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA), Mendoza, Argentina; Neuroscience Department of the School of Medicine, National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina; Santa Isabel de Hungría Hospital, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Global Brain Health Institute, UCSF, California, US, & Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; University of San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Adolfo M García
- Global Brain Health Institute, UCSF, California, US, & Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; University of San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina; Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
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Chen C, Wang X, Cao S, Zhang J, Wang Z, Pan W, Yang J, Tian Y, Qiu B, Wei Q, Wang K. Thalamocortical Functional Connectivity in Patients With White Matter Hyperintensities. Front Aging Neurosci 2021; 13:632237. [PMID: 33815090 PMCID: PMC8012554 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.632237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH)s is a very common neuroradiological manifestation in the elderly and is an increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline. As we all know, the thalamocortical circuit plays an important part in cognition regulation. However, the role of this circuit in WMHs and its related cognitive deficits is still unclear. Method: Eighty WMH patients and 37 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in the current study. WMH patients were divided into a mild WMH group (n = 33) and moderate-severe WMH group (n = 47) according to Fazekas scores. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data of all participants were collected for thalamocortical functional connectivity (FC) analysis. The analysis was performed in two steps. First, the whole cerebral cortex was divided into six regions of interest (ROIs), which were used as seeds to investigate the changes of FC with the thalamus. Then, the subregion of the thalamus generated in the previous step was used as the seed for FC analysis with the whole brain. Results: In the first step of FC analysis, it was found that precentral gyrus (PrCG)-interthalamic adhesion (ITA) FC values in moderate-severe WMH group were higher than those in HC and mild WMH groups. However, when compared with the HC group, the increase of PrCG-ITA FC values in mild WMH group was not statistically significant. In the second step of FC analysis, the ITA was set as the seed, and compared with the HC group, the results showed that the FC values of the ITA-medial frontal gyrus (MFG) in mild group and moderate-severe WMH groups were significantly increased. In addition, the FC values in moderate-severe group were significantly higher than those in mild group. Finally, it was also found that FC values (PrCG-ITA and ITA-MFG) were significantly correlated with neuropsychological test results for multiple cognitive functions such as memory, execution and attention in WMH patients. Conclusion: Abnormal thalamocortical FC was closely related with cognitive impairments in WMH patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Chen
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China
| | - Xiaojing Wang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China
| | - Shanshan Cao
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China
| | - Jun Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Zhiqi Wang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China
| | - Wen Pan
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China
| | - Jinying Yang
- Laboratory Center for Information Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yanghua Tian
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China.,Collaborative Innovation Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Hefei, China
| | - Bensheng Qiu
- Hefei National Lab for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and the Centers for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Qiang Wei
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China.,Collaborative Innovation Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Hefei, China
| | - Kai Wang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China.,Collaborative Innovation Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Hefei, China.,The College of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
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Lin H, Leng X, Qin C, Wang W, Zhang C, Qiu S. Altered White Matter Structural Network in Frontal and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Graph-Theoretical Study. Front Neurol 2020; 11:561. [PMID: 32625164 PMCID: PMC7311567 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) are the largest subgroup of partial epilepsy, and focal cortical dysplasias (FCDs) are highly epileptogenic brain lesions and are a frequent cause for antiepileptic drug (AED)-resistant focal epilepsies that mostly occur in the temporal and frontal lobes. We performed a graph-theoretical study based on the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data of patients with FLE or TLE caused by FCDs or lesions with high suspicion of FCDs and evaluated their cognitive function by the Chinese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-BC). The construction of the white matter structural network and graph-theoretical analysis was performed by Pipeline for Analysing Brain Diffusion Images (PANDA) and Graph-theoretical Network Analysis (GRETNA). We used the nonparametric analysis of covariance to compare the differences in diffusion metrics, network attributes and nodal attributes among FLE, TLE, and healthy control (HC) groups and then performed post hoc pairwise comparisons. Nonparametric Spearman partial correlation analysis was performed to analyse the correlation of network attributes with the age of onset, duration of disease, and MoCA-BC scores in patients with FLE and TLE. The results showed that the white matter structural network in patients with FLE and TLE was impaired in a more extensive set of regions than the FCD location. The similarities in white matter alterations between FLE and TLE suggested that their epileptogenic network might affect the fronto-temporal white matter tracts and thalamo-occipital connections, which might be responsible for the overlapping cognitive deficits in FLE and TLE. The white matter impairments in patients with FLE were more severe than those in patients with TLE, which might be explained by more affected nodes in the areas of DMN in patients with FLE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Lin
- Department of Radiology, Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xi Leng
- Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chunhong Qin
- Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wensheng Wang
- Department of Radiology, Guangdong 999 Brain Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chi Zhang
- Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shijun Qiu
- Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
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Wu X, Liu W, Wang W, Gao H, Hao N, Yue Q, Gong Q, Zhou D. Altered intrinsic brain activity associated with outcome in frontal lobe epilepsy. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8989. [PMID: 31222073 PMCID: PMC6586796 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-45413-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) is the second most common type of the focal epilepsies. Our understanding of this disease has been revolutionized over the past decade, but variable treatment outcomes persist and the underlying functional mechanisms responsible for this have yet to be deciphered. This study was designed to determine how intrinsic brain connectivity related to treatment response in patients with FLE. 50 patients with FLE and 28 healthy controls were enrolled in this study and underwent functional MRI at baseline. At the end of 12-month follow up period, all patients with FLE were classified, based on their responses to AEDs treatment, into drug-responsive and drug-refractory groups. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was calculated amongst the three groups in order to detect regional neural function integration. The responsive group showed decreased ALFF only in the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), while the refractory group showed decreased ALFF in the left vmPFC, right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and supramarginal gyrus (SMG) relative to healthy controls. In addition, both the responsive and refractory groups showed increased ALFF in the precuneus and postcentral gyrus when compared to the healthy controls. Furthermore, the refractory group exhibited significantly decreased ALFF in the left vmPFC, right SFG and SMG, relative to the responsive group. Focal spontaneous activity, as assessed by ALFF, was associated with response to antiepileptic treatment in patients with FLE. Patients with refractory frontal lobe epilepsy exhibited decreased intrinsic brain activity. Our findings provide novel neuroimaging evidence into the mechanisms of medically-intractable FLE at the brain level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xintong Wu
- Departments of Neurology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Wenyu Liu
- Departments of Neurology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Weina Wang
- Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Hui Gao
- Departments of Neurology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Nanya Hao
- Departments of Neurology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Qiang Yue
- Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China.
| | - Qiyong Gong
- Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Dong Zhou
- Departments of Neurology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu, 610041, China.
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Martire DJ, Wong S, Mikhail M, Ochi A, Otsubo H, Snead OC, Donner E, Ibrahim GM. Thalamocortical dysrhythmia in intraoperative recordings of focal epilepsy. J Neurophysiol 2019; 121:2020-2027. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00079.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Resonant interactions between the thalamus and cortex subserve a critical role for maintenance of consciousness as well as cognitive functions. In states of abnormal thalamic inhibition, thalamocortical dysrhythmia (TCD) has been described. The characteristics of TCD include a slowing of resting oscillations, ectopic high-frequency activity, and increased cross-frequency coupling. Here, we demonstrate the presence of TCD in four patients who underwent resective epilepsy surgery with chronically implanted electrodes under anesthesia, continuously recording activity from brain regions at the periphery of the epileptogenic zone before and after resection. Following resection, we report an acceleration of the large-scale network resting frequency coincident with decreases in cross-frequency phase-amplitude coupling. Interregional functional connectivity in the surrounding cortex was also increased following resection of the epileptogenic focus. These findings provide evidence for the presence of TCD in focal epilepsy and highlight the importance of reciprocal thalamocortical oscillatory interactions in defining novel biomarkers for resective surgeries. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Thalamocortical dysrhythmia (TCD) occurs in the context of thalamic dysfacilitation and is characterized by slowing of resting oscillations, ectopic high-frequency activity, and cross-frequency coupling. We provide evidence for TCD in focal epilepsy by studying electrophysiological changes occurring at the periphery of the resection margin. We report acceleration of resting activity coincident with decreased cross-frequency coupling and increased functional connectivity. The study of TCD in epilepsy has implications as a biomarker and therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J. Martire
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Simeon Wong
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mirriam Mikhail
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ayako Ochi
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Hiroshi Otsubo
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - O. Carter Snead
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elizabeth Donner
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - George M. Ibrahim
- Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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13
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Zhao X, Wu Q, Chen Y, Song X, Ni H, Ming D. The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging. Front Neurol 2019; 10:184. [PMID: 30930828 PMCID: PMC6423803 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Macromorphological and microstructural changes of gray matter (GM) happen during brain normal aging. However, the mechanism of macro-microstructure association is still unclear, which is of guidance for understanding many neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, adopting structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), GM aging pattern was characterized and its macro-microstructure associations were revealed. For 60 subjects among the ages of 47-79, the DKI and T1-weighted images were investigated with voxel-based analysis. The results showed age-related overlapped patterns between morphological and microstructural alterations during normal aging. It was worth noting that morphological changes and mean diffusivity (MD) indexes abnormalities mainly overlapped in the following regions, superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, cingulum gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, insula, and thalamus. Besides, overlapped with GM atrophies, mean kurtosis (MK) abnormalities were observed in superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, transverse temporal gyrus, insula, and thalamus. What important was that intrinsic aging independent associations between macrostructure and microstructure were found especially in media superior frontal gyrus, which revealed the potential mechanisms in the process of aging. The physiological mechanism may be associated with the elimination of neurons and synapses and the shrinkage of large neurons. Understanding the associations of GM volume changes and microstructural changes can account for the underlying mechanisms of aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Zhao
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Qiong Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Yuanyuan Chen
- Tianjin International Joint Research Center for Neural Engineering, Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xizi Song
- Tianjin International Joint Research Center for Neural Engineering, Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Hongyan Ni
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Dong Ming
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- Tianjin International Joint Research Center for Neural Engineering, Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
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