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Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Network Analysis of the Default Mode Network Using Functional Connectivity MRI in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Published on: August 5, 2014
Thalamic hypoperfusion and disrupted cerebral blood flow networks in idiopathic generalized epilepsy: Arterial spin
Daichi Sone1, Masako Watanabe2, Miho Ota3
1Department of Radiology, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan.
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to investigate interictal cerebral blood flow (CBF) distributions and graph theoretical networks in idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) using arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging and anatomical covariance methods of graph theoretical analysis.
Material And Methods:
We recruited 19 patients with IGE and 19 age-/gender-matched healthy controls. Their CBF images were obtained by pseudo-continuous ASL imaging and compared using statistical parametric mapping 8 software (SPM8) and Graph Analysis Toolbox (GAT).
Results:
The ASL imaging could detect interictal hypoperfusion in the thalamus, upper midbrain, and left cerebellum in IGE. Additionally, the graph theoretical analyses revealed characteristic findings of the CBF network of IGE, including significantly reduced resilience to attacks and changes of regional clustering especially in the bilateral temporo-occipital areas and lateral frontal lobes. There was no significance in the comparisons of network metrics.
Conclusion:
These findings could contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of IGE.
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