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Updated: May 4, 2026

Application of Granger Causality Analysis of the Directed Functional Connection in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: August 7, 2017
Changes in functional network centrality underlie cognitive dysfunction and physical disability in multiple sclerosis
M M Schoonheim1, Jjg Geurts2, O T Wiebenga3
1Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, The Netherlands Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, VU University Medical Center, The Netherlands m.schoonheim@vumc.nl.
Background:
Cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis (MS) has a large impact on the quality of life and is poorly understood.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to investigate functional network integrity in MS, and relate this to cognitive dysfunction and physical disability.
Methods:
Resting state fMRI scans were included of 128 MS patients and 50 controls. Eigenvector centrality mapping (ECM) was applied, a graph analysis technique that ranks the importance of brain regions based on their connectivity patterns. Significant ECM changes were related to physical disability and cognitive dysfunction.
Results:
In MS patients, ECM values were increased in bilateral thalamus and posterior cingulate (PCC) areas, and decreased in sensorimotor and ventral stream areas. Sensorimotor ECM decreases were related to higher EDSS (rho = -0.24, p = 0.007), while ventral stream decreases were related to poorer average cognition (rho = 0.23, p = 0.009). The thalamus displayed increased connectivity to sensorimotor and ventral stream areas.
Conclusion:
In MS, areas in the ventral stream and sensorimotor cortex appear to become less central in the entire functional network of the brain, which is associated with clinico-cognitive dysfunction. The thalamus, however, displays increased connectivity with these areas. These findings may aid in further elucidating the function of functional reorganization processes in MS.
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