The relationship between deviant brain activity and executive functioning in glioma patients.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neuro-oncology
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Glioma patients often experience executive functioning (EF) deficits, with unclear neurophysiological causes.
• Tumor-brain interactions influence both tumor growth and neuronal activity.
• The link between pathological brain activity and neurocognitive deficits in glioma is poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between brain activity in the frontoparietal network (FPN) and peritumoral regions and EF in glioma patients.
• To explore how resting-state brain activity and EF change over time in glioma patients compared to healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Magnetoencephalography (MEG) measured resting-state brain activity in 37 glioma patients and 25 healthy controls (HCs).
• Neuropsychological assessments evaluated EF using concept-shifting and word-fluency tests.
• Linear regression analyzed the association between brain activity (broadband power and offset) and EF at baseline and 1-year follow-up.

Main Results:

• Peritumoral brain activity showed increasing deviation over time in glioma patients.
• In healthy controls, higher right frontoparietal network (FPN) activity correlated with lower word fluency.
• No significant association was found between brain activity (peritumoral or FPN) and EF in glioma patients, either at baseline or longitudinally.

Conclusions:

• Resting-state brain activity may not be clinically relevant for predicting EF deficits in glioma patients.
• Deviations in peritumoral brain activity increase over time in glioma patients.
• Patient-specific functional network properties, like network integration, might be more critical for understanding EF deficits in this population.