Structural Connectivity of the Human Claustrum in Epilepsy
Abstract number :
1.252
Submission category :
5. Neuro Imaging / 5A. Structural Imaging
Year :
2021
Submission ID :
1825898
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/4/2021 12:00:00 PM
Published date :
Nov 22, 2021, 06:51 AM
Authors :
S. Kathleen Bandt, MD - Northwestern University; Regine Goh - University of California, San Diego; Anil Mahavadi - University of Alabama, Birmingham; Hannah Weiss - New York University; Pierre Besson - Northwestern University
Rationale: The claustrum is a thin subcortical structure associated with cognition and consciousness. Its role in network-based pathologies with dyscognitive components, such as epilepsy, is uncertain. Preliminary functional connectivity studies suggest the claustrum may be involved in seizure generation and propagation; however, its exact structural connectivity (SC) integrity remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine claustrum SC changes related to epilepsy subtype and relevant clinical features.
Methods: T1-weighted and Diffusion-weighted images (DWI) were acquired from 144 patients with epilepsy along with 46 healthy controls. Whole-brain SC was defined as the fiber tract density between 8 previously defined claustrum regions and 7 cortical (Vis, SM, DAN, VAN, FPC, LN, DMN) and 7 subcortical regions (amygdala, hippocampus, accumbens nucleus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, thalamus). Generalized-linear models were used to determine the effect of epilepsy, epilepsy subtype, seizure frequency, disease duration and age at onset (AAO) on SC.
Results: Widespread decreases in SC to bilateral cortical networks excluding the limbic network (LN) and subcortical structures were observed primarily in LTLE and ETLE, with a preference for ipsilateral regions (Figure 1). Patients with both rare and frequent seizure frequency demonstrated significantly decreased white matter fiber tract density between bilateral claustrums and all investigated brain regions compared to patients with intermediate seizures (Figure 2).
Conclusions: Our findings support a structural basis for functional network dysregulation in TLE. There is preferential impact on SC of the claustrum to limbic brain structures with an earlier age at onset (AAO), suggesting an interplay between AAO and the developmental timeline of brain regions. Additionally, we observe a smaller decrease in claustro-cortical SC in patients with intermediate seizure frequency compared to patients with rare and frequent seizure frequency, suggesting a relative preservation in patients with seizures of intermediate frequency. Numerous findings were identified suggesting that the claustrum plays a key role in epilepsy.
Funding: Please list any funding that was received in support of this abstract.: none.
Neuro Imaging