1
|
Krohn S, von Schwanenflug N, Waschke L, Romanello A, Gell M, Garrett DD, Finke C. A spatiotemporal complexity architecture of human brain activity. Sci Adv 2023; 9:eabq3851. [PMID: 36724223 PMCID: PMC9891702 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq3851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
The human brain operates in large-scale functional networks. These networks are an expression of temporally correlated activity across brain regions, but how global network properties relate to the neural dynamics of individual regions remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that the brain's network architecture is tightly linked to critical episodes of neural regularity, visible as spontaneous "complexity drops" in functional magnetic resonance imaging signals. These episodes closely explain functional connectivity strength between regions, subserve the propagation of neural activity patterns, and reflect interindividual differences in age and behavior. Furthermore, complexity drops define neural activity states that dynamically shape the connectivity strength, topological configuration, and hierarchy of brain networks and comprehensively explain known structure-function relationships within the brain. These findings delineate a principled complexity architecture of neural activity-a human "complexome" that underpins the brain's functional network organization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Krohn
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Corresponding author. (S.K.); (C.F.)
| | - Nina von Schwanenflug
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Leonhard Waschke
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Amy Romanello
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Gell
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Douglas D. Garrett
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Finke
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Corresponding author. (S.K.); (C.F.)
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
von Schwanenflug N, Ramirez-Mahaluf JP, Krohn S, Romanello A, Heine J, Prüss H, Crossley NA, Finke C. Reduced resilience of brain state transitions in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:568-579. [PMID: 36514280 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Patients with anti-N-methyl-aspartate receptor (NMDA) receptor encephalitis suffer from a severe neuropsychiatric syndrome, yet most patients show no abnormalities in routine magnetic resonance imaging. In contrast, advanced neuroimaging studies have consistently identified disrupted functional connectivity in these patients, with recent work suggesting increased volatility of functional state dynamics. Here, we investigate these network dynamics through the spatiotemporal trajectory of meta-state transitions, yielding a time-resolved account of brain state exploration in anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. To this end, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired in 73 patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis and 73 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Time-resolved functional connectivity was clustered into brain meta-states, giving rise to a time-resolved transition network graph with states as nodes and transitions between brain meta-states as weighted, directed edges. Network topology, robustness and transition cost of these transition networks were compared between groups. Transition networks of patients showed significantly lower local efficiency (t = -2.41, pFDR = .029), lower robustness (t = -2.01, pFDR = .048) and higher leap size (t = 2.18, pFDR = .037) compared with controls. Furthermore, the ratio of within-to-between module transitions and state similarity was significantly lower in patients. Importantly, alterations of brain state transitions correlated with disease severity. Together, these findings reveal systematic alterations of transition networks in patients, suggesting that anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is characterized by reduced stability of brain state transitions and that this reduced resilience of transition networks plays a clinically relevant role in the manifestation of the disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nina von Schwanenflug
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Juan P Ramirez-Mahaluf
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Stephan Krohn
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Amy Romanello
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Josephine Heine
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Harald Prüss
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nicolas A Crossley
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Biomedical Imaging Center, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Millennium Nucleus for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, Santiago, Chile
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Carsten Finke
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
von Schwanenflug N, Koch SP, Krohn S, Broeders TAA, Lydon-Staley DM, Bassett DS, Schoonheim MM, Paul F, Finke C. Increased flexibility of brain dynamics in patients with multiple sclerosis. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad143. [PMID: 37188221 PMCID: PMC10176242 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Patients with multiple sclerosis consistently show widespread changes in functional connectivity. Yet, alterations are heterogeneous across studies, underscoring the complexity of functional reorganization in multiple sclerosis. Here, we aim to provide new insights by applying a time-resolved graph-analytical framework to identify a clinically relevant pattern of dynamic functional connectivity reconfigurations in multiple sclerosis. Resting-state data from 75 patients with multiple sclerosis (N = 75, female:male ratio of 3:2, median age: 42.0 ± 11.0 years, median disease duration: 6 ± 11.4 years) and 75 age- and sex-matched controls (N = 75, female:male ratio of 3:2, median age: 40.2 ± 11.8 years) were analysed using multilayer community detection. Local, resting-state functional system and global levels of dynamic functional connectivity reconfiguration were characterized using graph-theoretical measures including flexibility, promiscuity, cohesion, disjointedness and entropy. Moreover, we quantified hypo- and hyper-flexibility of brain regions and derived the flexibility reorganization index as a summary measure of whole-brain reorganization. Lastly, we explored the relationship between clinical disability and altered functional dynamics. Significant increases in global flexibility (t = 2.38, PFDR = 0.024), promiscuity (t = 1.94, PFDR = 0.038), entropy (t = 2.17, PFDR = 0.027) and cohesion (t = 2.45, PFDR = 0.024) were observed in patients and were driven by pericentral, limbic and subcortical regions. Importantly, these graph metrics were correlated with clinical disability such that greater reconfiguration dynamics tracked greater disability. Moreover, patients demonstrate a systematic shift in flexibility from sensorimotor areas to transmodal areas, with the most pronounced increases located in regions with generally low dynamics in controls. Together, these findings reveal a hyperflexible reorganization of brain activity in multiple sclerosis that clusters in pericentral, subcortical and limbic areas. This functional reorganization was linked to clinical disability, providing new evidence that alterations of multilayer temporal dynamics play a role in the manifestation of multiple sclerosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nina von Schwanenflug
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin 10098, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Stefan P Koch
- Department of Experimental Neurology, Center for Stroke Research Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
- NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence and Charité Core Facility 7T Experimental MRIs, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Stephan Krohn
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin 10098, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Tommy A A Broeders
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, MS Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1007 MB, The Netherlands
| | - David M Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
- Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
| | - Dani S Bassett
- Department of Biological Engineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
- Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe 87501, NM, USA
| | - Menno M Schoonheim
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, MS Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1007 MB, The Netherlands
| | - Friedemann Paul
- Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin 10098, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin 10017, Germany
| | - Carsten Finke
- Correspondence to: Carsten Finke Charité - Universitätsklinikum Berlin Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology Campus Mitte, Bonhoeffer Weg 3, 10098 Berlin, Germany E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
von Schwanenflug N, Krohn S, Heine J, Paul F, Prüss H, Finke C. OUP accepted manuscript. Brain Commun 2022; 4:fcab298. [PMID: 35169701 PMCID: PMC8833311 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcab298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditional static functional connectivity analyses have shown distinct functional network alterations in patients with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis. Here, we use a dynamic functional connectivity approach that increases the temporal resolution of connectivity analyses from minutes to seconds. We hereby explore the spatiotemporal variability of large-scale brain network activity in anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis and assess the discriminatory power of functional brain states in a supervised classification approach. We included resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 57 patients and 61 controls to extract four discrete connectivity states and assess state-wise group differences in functional connectivity, dwell time, transition frequency, fraction time and occurrence rate. Additionally, for each state, logistic regression models with embedded feature selection were trained to predict group status in a leave-one-out cross-validation scheme. Compared to controls, patients exhibited diverging dynamic functional connectivity patterns in three out of four states mainly encompassing the default-mode network and frontal areas. This was accompanied by a characteristic shift in the dwell time pattern and higher volatility of state transitions in patients. Moreover, dynamic functional connectivity measures were associated with disease severity and positive and negative schizophrenia-like symptoms. Predictive power was highest in dynamic functional connectivity models and outperformed static analyses, reaching up to 78.6% classification accuracy. By applying time-resolved analyses, we disentangle state-specific functional connectivity impairments and characteristic changes in temporal dynamics not detected in static analyses, offering new perspectives on the functional reorganization underlying anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis. Finally, the correlation of dynamic functional connectivity measures with disease symptoms and severity demonstrates a clinical relevance of spatiotemporal connectivity dynamics in anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nina von Schwanenflug
- Department of Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stephan Krohn
- Department of Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Josephine Heine
- Department of Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Friedemann Paul
- Department of Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Harald Prüss
- Department of Neurology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
- German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases, DZNE, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Finke
- Correspondence to: Carsten Finke Charitéplatz 1 10117 Berlin, Germany E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
von Schwanenflug N, Müller DK, King JA, Ritschel F, Bernardoni F, Mohammadi S, Geisler D, Roessner V, Biemann R, Marxen M, Ehrlich S. Dynamic changes in white matter microstructure in anorexia nervosa: findings from a longitudinal study. Psychol Med 2019; 49:1555-1564. [PMID: 30149815 DOI: 10.1017/s003329171800212x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gray matter (GM) 'pseudoatrophy' is well-documented in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), but changes in white matter (WM) are less well understood. Here we investigated the dynamics of microstructural WM brain changes in AN patients during short-term weight restoration in a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional study design. METHODS Diffusion-weighted images were acquired in young AN patients before (acAN-Tp1, n = 56) and after (acAN-Tp2, n = 44) short-term weight restoration as well as in age-matched healthy controls (HC, n = 60). Images were processed using Tract-Based-Spatial-Statistics to compare fractional anisotropy (FA) across groups and timepoints. RESULTS In the cross-sectional comparison, FA was significantly reduced in the callosal body in acAN-Tp1 compared with HC, while no differences were found between acAN-Tp2 and HC. In the longitudinal arm, FA increased with weight gain in acAN-Tp2 relative to acAN-Tp1 in large parts of the callosal body and the fornix, while it decreased in the right corticospinal tract. CONCLUSIONS Our findings reveal that dynamic, bidirectional changes in WM microstructure in young underweight patients with AN can be reversed with brief weight restoration therapy. These results parallel those previously observed in GM and suggest that alterations in WM in non-chronic AN are also state-dependent and rapidly reversible with successful intervention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nina von Schwanenflug
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience,Faculty of Medicine,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Dirk K Müller
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Joseph A King
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience,Faculty of Medicine,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Franziska Ritschel
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience,Faculty of Medicine,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Fabio Bernardoni
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience,Faculty of Medicine,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Siawoosh Mohammadi
- Department of Systems Neuroscience,Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf,Hamburg,Germany
| | - Daniel Geisler
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience,Faculty of Medicine,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Veit Roessner
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,Faculty of Medicine,Eating Disorder Research and Treatment Center, Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Ronald Biemann
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Otto-von-Guericke University,Magdeburg,Germany
| | - Michael Marxen
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience,Faculty of Medicine,Technische Universität Dresden,Dresden,Germany
| |
Collapse
|