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Characterizing white matter connectome abnormalities in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy using threshold-free network-based statistics. Brain Behav 2024 Aug;14(8):e3643

Date

08/05/2024

Pubmed ID

39099405

Pubmed Central ID

PMC11298711

DOI

10.1002/brb3.3643

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85200232728 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Emerging evidence illustrates that temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) involves network disruptions represented by hyperexcitability and other seizure-related neural plasticity. However, these associations are not well-characterized. Our study characterizes the whole brain white matter connectome abnormalities in TLE patients compared to healthy controls (HCs) from the prospective Epilepsy Connectome Project study. Furthermore, we assessed whether aberrant white matter connections are differentially related to cognitive impairment and a history of focal-to-bilateral tonic-clonic (FBTC) seizures.

METHODS: Multi-shell connectome MRI data were preprocessed using the DESIGNER guidelines. The IIT Destrieux gray matter atlas was used to derive the 162 × 162 structural connectivity matrices (SCMs) using MRTrix3. ComBat data harmonization was applied to harmonize the SCMs from pre- and post-scanner upgrade acquisitions. Threshold-free network-based statistics were used for statistical analysis of the harmonized SCMs. Cognitive impairment status and FBTC seizure status were then correlated with these findings.

RESULTS: We employed connectome measurements from 142 subjects, including 92 patients with TLE (36 males, mean age = 40.1 ± 11.7 years) and 50 HCs (25 males, mean age = 32.6 ± 10.2 years). Our analysis revealed overall significant decreases in cross-sectional area (CSA) of the white matter tract in TLE group compared to controls, indicating decreased white matter tract integrity and connectivity abnormalities in addition to apparent differences in graph theoretic measures of connectivity and network-based statistics. Focal and generalized cognitive impaired TLE patients showcased higher trend-level abnormalities in the white matter connectome via decreased CSA than those with no cognitive impairment. Patients with a positive FBTC seizure history also showed trend-level findings of association via decreased CSA.

CONCLUSIONS: Widespread global aberrant white matter connectome changes were observed in TLE patients and characterized by seizure history and cognitive impairment, laying a foundation for future studies to expand on and validate the novel biomarkers and further elucidate TLE's impact on brain plasticity.

Author List

Chu DY, Imhoff-Smith TP, Nair VA, Choi T, Adluru A, Garcia-Ramos C, Dabbs K, Mathis J, Nencka AS, Conant L, Binder JR, Meyerand ME, Alexander AL, Struck AF, Hermann B, Prabhakaran V, Adluru N

Author

Andrew S. Nencka PhD Director, Associate Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Brain
Cognitive Dysfunction
Connectome
Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Nerve Net
Prospective Studies
White Matter