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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

A Multimodal Imaging- and Stimulation-based Method of Evaluating Connectivity-related Brain Excitability in Patients with Epilepsy

A Multimodal Imaging- and Stimulation-based Method of Evaluating Connectivity-related Brain Excitability in Patients with Epilepsy

Published on: November 13, 2016

Abnormal structural and functional brain connectivity in gray matter heterotopia.

Joanna A Christodoulou¹, Linsey M Walker, Stephanie N Del Tufo

¹Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

|April 25, 2012

Summary

Periventricular nodular heterotopia (PNH) shows abnormal structural and functional connections to the cortex. Longer epilepsy duration correlates with increased abnormal functional connectivity in PNH patients.

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Network Analysis of the Default Mode Network Using Functional Connectivity MRI in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

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Published on: August 5, 2014

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience
Neuronal Migration Disorders

Background:

Periventricular nodular heterotopia (PNH) is a brain malformation linked to epilepsy and dyslexia.
Evidence suggests functional capacity of heterotopic gray matter and the role of connectivity abnormalities in these disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the structural and functional connectivity of heterotopia in patients with PNH.
To test the hypothesis that nodular heterotopia develop abnormal connections.

Main Methods:

Diffusion tensor tractography and resting-state functional connectivity MRI (BOLD) were used in 11 patients.
Structural connectivity was assessed by visualizing fiber tracks terminating in heterotopic nodules.
Functional connectivity was analyzed by identifying brain regions with resting-state correlations to heterotopic nodules.

Main Results:

A majority of heterotopia (69%) exhibited structural connectivity to overlying cortex, and nearly all (96%) showed functional connectivity.
Heterotopia also connected to contralateral cortex, other nodules, ipsilateral non-overlying cortex, and deep gray matter/cerebellum.
Patients with longer epilepsy durations displayed significantly higher abnormal functional connectivity (p = 0.036).

Conclusions:

Most PNH heterotopia are structurally and functionally connected to overlying cortex.
Altered connectivity is strongly associated with epilepsy duration in PNH.
These findings, combined with prior research on dyslexia, suggest altered connectivity is a critical substrate for neurological dysfunction in brain malformations.