Altered cortical functional networks in Wilson's Disease: A resting-state electroencephalogram study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Biophysics

Background:

• Neuropsychiatric symptoms are prevalent in Wilson's disease (WD).
• The underlying functional brain network alterations in WD remain poorly understood.
• Understanding these networks is crucial for diagnosing and managing WD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate functional brain network characteristics in WD patients with neurological involvement.
• To correlate functional network disruptions with clinical and structural brain abnormalities.
• To explore the potential of resting-state EEG as a biomarker for brain injury in WD.

Main Methods:

• Source localization-based functional connectivity analysis using resting-state electroencephalography (EEG).
• Calculation of weighted phase-lag index (wPLI) across five frequency bands.
• Graph theory analysis of connectivity matrices and correlation with clinical scores.

Main Results:

• WD patients showed disconnected sub-networks in delta, theta, and alpha frequency bands compared to healthy controls (HCs).
• Significantly reduced global clustering coefficients and small-worldness were observed in WD patients across all five frequency bands.
• Disrupted functional networks in WD correlated significantly with neurological symptom severity and structural brain abnormalities.

Conclusions:

• Functional network deficits in WD are linked to the severity of neurological symptoms and structural brain damage.
• Resting-state EEG analysis reveals significant alterations in brain network organization in WD patients.
• Resting-state EEG shows promise as a potential biomarker for assessing brain injury in Wilson's disease.