Social cognitive dysfunction and altered functional connectivity and small-world properties of the social brain...

To date, no studies have precisely revealed the relationship between social dysfunction and brain network alterations in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). The aim of this study is to investigate differences in the social brain network (SBN) between IGE patients and healthy control (HC), and to analyze its correlation with social dysfunction and other clinical features in IGE patients.

To explore the differences in the SBN between patients with IGE and HC, we selected 16 regions of interest (ROI) seeds involved in SBN for functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Furthermore, we used graph theory-based methods to extract topological properties of the social brain network to investigate the network characteristics of the SBN in IGE patients. Additionally, correlational analysis was conducted between the variables that showed differences and the clinical variables of IGE patients.

Compared to HCs, IGE patients exhibited increased FCs within SBN, particularly between the right temporal pole and other SBN regions, as well as between the fusiform gyrus and the amygdala. They also showed higher nodal strength, primarily localized in the left amygdala and right temporal pole, along with weaker small-world network properties. These changes could be correlated with increased impulsivity, social anxiety, avoidance, anxiety, and loneliness in IGE patients.

This study found impaired social function and altered SBN in IGE patients, may be associated with higher impulsivity, anxiety, social anxiety, avoidance, and loneliness. These findings suggested that the social functional impairments in IGE patients may be related to SBN disruptions.