Differences in subcortical functional connectivity in patients with epilepsy.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Epilepsy involves abnormal brain electrical activity affecting metabolism and functional connectivity (FC).
• Interictal phenomena in epilepsy can impact brain metabolism and FC beyond the seizure focus.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if epilepsy affects resting-state functional connectivity (FC) between cortical and subcortical brain structures.
• To explore how understanding FC in epilepsy can inform pathophysiological insights and treatment strategies.

Main Methods:

• Functional connectivity (FC) was analyzed using resting-state fMRI in 35 epilepsy patients and 28 healthy controls.
• Simultaneous EEG recording with fMRI helped mitigate the impact of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs).
• Correlation coefficients (FC values) between brain structures were compared between groups.

Main Results:

• Patients with epilepsy exhibited lower FC values compared to controls.
• Affected connections involved the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus.

Conclusions:

• Epilepsy significantly alters resting-state functional connectivity in subcortical networks.
• Pathological FC patterns vary among epilepsy subtypes, with notable reductions in hippocampus, amygdala, and thalamus connections.
• Altered FC may precede clinical symptoms, potentially aiding early diagnosis of cognitive and emotional disorders in epilepsy.