Functional Connectivity of Arousal Structures Across Vigilance States: Relationship to Impaired Neurocognition in Epilepsy
Abstract number :
3.244
Submission category :
5. Neuro Imaging / 5B. Functional Imaging
Year :
2023
Submission ID :
1143
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/4/2023 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Authors :
Presenting Author: Haatef Pourmotabbed, MS – Vanderbilt University
Caroline Martin, BS – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering – Vanderbilt University; Sarah Goodale, BS – Department of Biomedical Engineering – Vanderbilt University; Derek Doss, BS – Department of Biomedical Engineering – Vanderbilt University; Jared Shless, BS – Department of Neurological Surgery – Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Shiyu Wang, MS – Department of Biomedical Engineering – Vanderbilt University; Victoria Morgan, PhD – Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences – Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Dario Englot, MD, PhD – Department of Neurological Surgery – Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Catie Chang, PhD – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering – Vanderbilt University
Rationale: Recurrent seizures in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) may lead to vigilance impairments such as declines in sustained attention and reduced executive functioning1. Previous fMRI studies have related these deficits to functional connectivity (FC) alterations of arousal centers in the brainstem, basal forebrain, and thalamus1. However, vigilance is typically not monitored during fMRI and may influence the FC. The purpose of this study was to investigate FC disruptions of brainstem and basal forebrain nuclei in TLE across vigilance states and to relate the FC to attention and executive function disturbances.
Methods: This study included EEG-fMRI (3T multi-echo) from seven left TLE patients (13 sessions; 48.3 ± 11.7 years, 3 females) and seven age and gender matched controls (11 sessions; 48.3 ± 13.9 years). Mean fMRI time-series were derived for nine brainstem and four basal forebrain seed regions2,3, and multiple linear regression was used to estimate time-series for 14 brain networks4. Alert and drowsy epochs were identified from the EEG with the VIGALL algorithm5, and correlation between seed regions and seven cognitive networks was computed for each epoch and the entire session. The FC was compared between patients and controls (paired t-test) for drowsy periods only and for the entire session, and FC of patients was related to scores of attention and executive function (Kendall’s τ).
Results: The patients tended to be much drowsier than controls (87-100% versus 31-77% [IQR] of total scan duration; p < 0.02, Wilcoxon rank sum). FC of the cuneiform/subcuneiform nucleus (CSC), median raphe (MR), oral pontine nucleus (PO), and right nucleus basalis of Meynert (BF4) to several networks was reduced in patients versus controls (
Neuro Imaging