Abnormalities of the default-mode network homogeneity and executive dysfunction in people with first-episode,...

Converging evidence has demonstrated that there is aberrant connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN) in left temporal lobe epilepsy (lTLE) yet changes in the network homogeneity (NH) of the DMN in people with first-episode, treatment-naive lTLE remains unclear. In this study, we used an NH method to investigate the NH of the DMN in people with first-episode, treatment-naive, lTLE, at rest.

We collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and attention network test (ANT) data from 43 people with lTLE and 42well-matched, healthy control subjects. An NH approach was used to analyze the data.

People with lTLE have decreased NH in the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and the left middle temporal lobe (MTG), and increased NH in the bilateral precuneus (PCu) and right inferior parietal lobe (IPL), as compared with the controls. We also found that people with lTLE had a longer executive control reaction time (RT). No significant correlations were found between abnormal NH values and clinical variables in the subjects.

These findings suggest that abnormal NH of the DMN exists in lTLE subjects and highlight the significance of the DMN in the pathophysiology of cognitive problems occurring in lTLE.