Disrupted structural and functional connectivity networks in ischemic stroke patients.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Systems Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Stroke-induced brain lesions cause significant structural and functional reorganization.
• Prior research focused on specific brain networks, leaving whole-brain alterations under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify whole-brain network abnormalities post-stroke.
• To investigate the decoupling between structural and functional connectivity.
• To explore potential biomarkers for motor impairment.

Main Methods:

• Graph theoretical analysis applied to structural and functional brain networks.
• Comparison of network topological properties between 15 ischemic stroke patients and 23 normal controls.
• Correlation analysis between network characteristics and clinical assessments (Fugl-Meyer Assessment, immediate recall).

Main Results:

• Stroke patients exhibited altered global network properties (higher characteristic path length, lower global efficiency) compared to controls.
• Abnormal nodal characteristics were observed in motor and cognition-related regions.
• Decreased structural-functional connectivity coupling was found, correlating with motor impairment (FMA score).

Conclusions:

• Brain network topology is significantly altered following stroke.
• Decoupling between structural and functional connectivity may serve as a novel biomarker for motor deficits.
• Findings offer network-level insights into brain reorganization after stroke.