Resting-State Network Analysis Reveals Altered Functional Brain Connectivity in Essential Tremor

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Essential tremor (ET) presents with motor and non-motor symptoms, but its underlying neuro-pathogenesis remains incompletely understood.
• While cerebellar circuits are implicated, large-scale cerebral network connectivity in ET is not well-characterized.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate alterations in functional connectivity and network properties within the cerebrum in patients with Essential Tremor.
• To explore the relationship between resting-state network (RSN) metrics and clinical tremor features in ET.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to assess inter- and intra-network connectivity and functional activity.
• Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuation (ALFF) was used to measure regional functional activity.
• Correlation analyses examined the association between RSN metrics and tremor characteristics.

Main Results:

• Patients with ET exhibited decreased connectivity between the default mode network and the ventral attention network compared to controls (p < 0.05).
• Significant differences in ALFF were observed in brain regions associated with various RSNs (p < 0.05), with the ET group showing higher degree centrality.
• Tremor features were significantly correlated with inter-network connectivity, ALFF, and degree centrality (|r| = 0.135–0.766).

Conclusions:

• Resting-state fMRI reveals significant alterations in cerebral network connectivity in Essential Tremor.
• These findings highlight a potentially valuable neuroimaging approach for understanding the cerebral network disruptions in ET.