Altered Structural and Functional Feature of Striato-Cortical Circuit in Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes

Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECT) is the most common form of childhood idiopathic focal epilepsy syndrome. We investigated quantitative evidence regarding brain morphology and functional connectivity features to provide insight into the neuroanatomical foundation of this disorder, using high resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting state functional MRI in 21 patients with BECT and in 20 healthy children. The functional connectivity analysis, seeded at the regions with altered gray-matter (GM) volume in voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis, was further performed. Then, the observed structural and functional alteration were investigated for their association with the clinical and behavior manifestations. The increased GM volume in the striatum and fronto-temporo-parietal cortex (striato-cortical circuit) was observed in BECT. The decreased connections were found among the motor network and frontostriatal loop, and between the default mode network (DMN) and language regions. Additionally, the GM of striatum was negatively correlated with age at epilepsy onset. The current observations may contribute to the understanding of the altered structural and functional feature of striato-cortical circuit in patients with BECT. The findings also implied alterations of the motor network and DMN, which were associated with the epileptic activity in patients with BECT. This further suggested that the onset of BECT might have enduring structural and functional effects on brain maturation.

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Epileptic Discharge Related Functional Connectivity Within and Between Networks in Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes

International Journal of Neural Systems ◽

10.1142/s0129065717500186 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (07) ◽

pp. 1750018 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Rong Li ◽

Gong-Jun Ji ◽

Yangyang Yu ◽

Yang Yu ◽

Mei-Ping Ding ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Epileptic Activity ◽

Epilepsy Syndrome ◽

Epileptiform Discharges ◽

Interictal Epileptiform Discharges ◽

Motor Network ◽

Dorsal Attention Network ◽

Intrinsic Connectivity Networks ◽

Positive Correlations ◽

Benign Epilepsy

Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) is a common childhood epilepsy syndrome associated with abnormalities in neurocognitive domains, particularly during interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs). Here, we investigated the effects of IEDs on brain’s intrinsic connectivity networks in 43 BECTS patients and 28 matched healthy controls (HCs). Patients were further divided into IED and non-IED subgroups based on simultaneous EEG-fMRI recordings. Functional connectivity within and between five networks, corresponding to seizure origination and cognitive processes, were analyzed to measure IED effects. We found that patients exhibited increased connectivity within the auditory network (AN) and the somato-motor network (SMN), and decreased connectivity within the basal ganglia network and the dorsal attention network, suggesting that both transient and chronic seizure activity may disturb normal network organization. The IED group showed decreased functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) compared with the non-IED group and HCs, implying that the DMN was selectively impaired during epileptiform discharges associated with altered self-referential cognitive functions. Moreover, the IED group exhibited increased positive correlations between the AN and the SMN, which suggests a possible excessive influence of centrotemporal spiking on information processing in the auditory system. The association between epileptic activity and network dysfunctions highlights their importance in investigating the pathological mechanism underlying BECTS.

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Benign epileptiform discharges of childhood and associated conditions

Russian Journal of Child Neurology ◽

10.17650/2073-8803-2018-13-3-7-24 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 7-24

Author(s):

K. Yu. Mukhin

Keyword(s):

Neurological Disorders ◽

Focal Epilepsy ◽

White Matter Lesions ◽

Perinatal Period ◽

Brain Maturation ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Epileptiform Discharges ◽

Detailed Classification ◽

Associated Conditions

This article provides a detailed description of benign epileptiform discharges of childhood (BEDC) as one of electroencephalography patterns in children. We emphasize that BEDC are not specific for both idiopathic (genetic) focal epilepsy and epilepsy in general. BEDC can be observed in a number of various disorders and also in neurologically healthy children. We developed a detailed classification of BEDC-associated states that are divided into 3 groups: neurologically healthy children, children with various forms of epilepsy, and patients with various neurological disorders without epilepsy. We found that there are 2 main factors responsible for BEDC in electroencephalogram: genetic predisposition and white matter lesions, usually occurring during the antenatal or perinatal period. BEDC should be considered rather a manifestation of congenital abnormalities in brain maturation than a marker of epilepsy. We also discuss the need for therapy in patients with BEDC-associated states.

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Functional Connectivity of the Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in Pediatric Focal Epilepsy

Frontiers in Neurology ◽

10.3389/fneur.2021.670881 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Rory J. Piper ◽

Chayanin Tangwiriyasakul ◽

Elhum A. Shamshiri ◽

Maria Centeno ◽

Xiaosong He ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Focal Epilepsy ◽

Epileptiform Activity ◽

Epileptogenic Zone ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Anterior Nucleus ◽

Epileptiform Discharges ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

Drug Resistant Epilepsy

Objective: Whilst stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus has shown efficacy for reducing seizure frequency in adults, alterations in thalamic connectivity have not been explored in children. We tested the hypotheses that (a) the anterior thalamus has increased functional connectivity in children with focal epilepsy, and (b) this alteration in the connectome is a persistent effect of the disease rather than due to transient epileptiform activity.Methods: Data from 35 children (7–18 years) with focal, drug-resistant epilepsy and 20 healthy children (7–17 years) were analyzed. All subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) whilst resting and were simultaneously monitored with scalp electroencephalography (EEG). The fMRI timeseries were extracted for each Automated Anatomical Labeling brain region and thalamic subregion. Graph theory metrics [degree (DC) and eigenvector (EC) centrality] were used to summarize the connectivity profile of the ipsilateral thalamus, and its thalamic parcellations. The effect of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) captured on EEG was used to determine their effect on DC and EC.Results: DC was significantly higher in the anterior nucleus (p = 0.04) of the thalamus ipsilateral to the epileptogenic zone in children with epilepsy compared to controls. On exploratory analyses, we similarly found a higher DC in the lateral dorsal nucleus (p = 0.02), but not any other thalamic subregion. No differences in EC measures were found between patients and controls. We did not find any significant difference in DC or EC in any thalamic subregion when comparing the results of children with epilepsy before, and after the removal of the effects of IEDs.Conclusions: Our data suggest that the anterior and lateral dorsal nuclei of the thalamus are more highly functionally connected in children with poorly controlled focal epilepsy. We did not detect a convincing change in thalamic connectivity caused by transient epileptiform activity, suggesting that it represents a persistent alteration to network dynamics.

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Penalized Functional Connectivity Maps for Patients With Focal Epilepsy

IEEE Access ◽

10.1109/access.2020.3046851 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. 204-217

Author(s):

Ahmed Hossam Mohammed ◽

Mercedes Cabrerizo ◽

Ulyana Morar ◽

Hoda Rajaei ◽

Alberto Pinzon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Focal Epilepsy

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Regional abnormality of functional connectivity is associated with clinical manifestations in individuals with intractable focal epilepsy

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-81207-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yasuo Nakai ◽

Hiroki Nishibayashi ◽

Tomohiro Donishi ◽

Masaki Terada ◽

Naoyuki Nakao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Focal Epilepsy ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Eigenvector Centrality ◽

Functional Connections ◽

Duration Of Illness ◽

Healthy Control ◽

Matched Data ◽

Clinical Conditions ◽

Age And Sex

AbstractWe explored regional functional connectivity alterations in intractable focal epilepsy brains using resting-state functional MRI. Distributions of the network parameters (corresponding to degree and eigenvector centrality) measured at each brain region for all 25 patients were significantly different from age- and sex-matched control data that were estimated by a healthy control dataset (n = 582, 18–84 years old). The number of abnormal regions whose parameters exceeded the mean + 2 SD of age- and sex-matched data for each patient were associated with various clinical parameters such as the duration of illness and seizure severity. Furthermore, abnormal regions for each patient tended to have functional connections with each other (mean ± SD = 58.6 ± 20.2%), the magnitude of which was negatively related to the quality of life. The abnormal regions distributed within the default mode network with significantly higher probability (p < 0.05) in 7 of 25 patients. We consider that the detection of abnormal regions by functional connectivity analysis using a large number of control datasets is useful for the numerical assessment of each patient’s clinical conditions, although further study is necessary to elucidate etiology-specific abnormalities.

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Electroencephalographic Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes

Journal of Clinical Neurology ◽

10.3988/jcn.2019.15.2.211 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 211

Author(s):

Hyun-Soo Choi ◽

Yoon Gi Chung ◽

Sun Ah Choi ◽

Soyeon Ahn ◽

Hunmin Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Benign Epilepsy

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Altered intrinsic functional connectivity of the cingulate cortex in children with severe temper outbursts

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579417001080 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 571-579 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Amy Krain Roy ◽

Randi Bennett ◽

Jonathan Posner ◽

Leslie Hulvershorn ◽

F. Xavier Castellanos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Emotional Dysregulation ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Adhd Group ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Intrinsic Functional Connectivity ◽

Midcingulate Cortex ◽

Temper Outbursts

AbstractSevere temper outbursts (STO) in children are associated with impaired school and family functioning and may contribute to negative outcomes. These outbursts can be conceptualized as excessive frustration responses reflecting reduced emotion regulation capacity. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been implicated in negative affect as well as emotional control, and exhibits disrupted function in children with elevated irritability and outbursts. This study examined the intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) of a region of the ACC, the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), in 5- to 9-year-old children with STO (n = 20), comparing them to children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) without outbursts (ADHD; n = 18). Additional analyses compared results to a sample of healthy children (HC; n = 18) and examined specific associations with behavioral and emotional dysregulation. Compared to the ADHD group, STO children exhibited reduced iFC between the aMCC and surrounding regions of the ACC, and increased iFC between the aMCC and precuneus. These differences were also seen between the STO and HC groups; ADHD and HC groups did not differ. Specificity analyses found associations between aMCC–ACC connectivity and hyperactivity, and between aMCC–precuneus iFC and emotion dysregulation. Disruption in aMCC networks may underlie the behavioral and emotional dysregulation characteristic of children with STO.

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Local GABA concentration is related to network-level resting functional connectivity

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.01465 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 86

Author(s):

Charlotte J Stagg ◽

Velicia Bachtiar ◽

Ugwechi Amadi ◽

Christel A Gudberg ◽

Andrei S Ilie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Resting State Networks ◽

Inhibitory Neurotransmitter ◽

Motor Network

Anatomically plausible networks of functionally inter-connected regions have been reliably demonstrated at rest, although the neurochemical basis of these ‘resting state networks’ is not well understood. In this study, we combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and resting state fMRI and demonstrated an inverse relationship between levels of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA within the primary motor cortex (M1) and the strength of functional connectivity across the resting motor network. This relationship was both neurochemically and anatomically specific. We then went on to show that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), an intervention previously shown to decrease GABA levels within M1, increased resting motor network connectivity. We therefore suggest that network-level functional connectivity within the motor system is related to the degree of inhibition in M1, a major node within the motor network, a finding in line with converging evidence from both simulation and empirical studies.

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