Altered Default Mode Network on Resting-State fMRI in Children with Infantile Spasms
Ya Wang, Yong-Xin Li, Huirong Wang, Yanjun Chen, Wen-Hua Huang
Frontiers in Neurology May 19, 2017 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00209 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case-control neuroimaging study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 48 |
| Population | Children with infantile spasms syndrome and sex- and age-matched healthy controls |
| Measures | Functional connectivity (FC) analysis with seed in posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | Children with infantile spasms showed markedly reduced functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex seed and other default mode network regions, and some of these regions also had significantly lower ALFF signals than healthy controls. The authors propose that this disrupted coherence of default mode network signal fluctuations may reflect neuronal functional impairment or altered integration relevant to the condition, though whether these changes relate to cognitive performance remains to be determined. |
Abstract
Infantile spasms (IS) syndrome is an age-dependent epileptic encephalopathy, which occurs in children characterized by spasms, impaired consciousness, and hypsarrhythmia. Abnormalities in default mode network (DMN) might contribute to the loss of consciousness during seizures and cognitive deficits in children with IS. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the changes in DMN with functional connectivity (FC) and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), the two methods to discover the potential neuronal underpinnings of IS. The consistency of the two calculate methods of DMN abnormalities in IS patients was also our main focus. To avoid the disturbance of interictal epileptic discharge, our testing was performed within the interictal durations without epileptic discharges. Resting-state fMRI data were collected from 13 patients with IS and 35 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. FC analysis with seed in posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) was used to compare the differences between two groups. We chose PCC as the seed region because PCC is the only node in the DMN that directly interacts with virtually all other nodes according to previous studies. Furthermore, the ALFF values within the DMN were also calculated and compared between the two groups. The FC results showed that IS patients exhibited markedly reduced connectivity between posterior seed region and other areas within DMN. In addition, part of the brain areas within the DMN showing significant difference of FC had significantly lower ALFF signal in the patient group than that in the healthy controls. The observed disruption in DMN through the two methods showed that the coherence of brain signal fluctuation in DMN during rest was broken in IS children. Neuronal functional impairment or altered integration in DMN would be one neuroimaging characteristic, which might help us to understand the underlying neural mechanism of IS. Further studies are needed to determine whether the disturbed FC and ALFF observed in the DMN are related to cognitive performance in IS patients.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study using resting-state fMRI and seed correlation analysis | |
| Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2009 | Experimental study using fMRI | |
| Dynamic reconfiguration of the default mode network during narrative comprehension Human subjects | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Broadband Cortical Desynchronization Underlies the Human Psychedelic State Healthy human participants | 2013 | Experimental study | |
| The brain on art: intense aesthetic experience activates the default mode network Human observers | 2012 | Observational study with fMRI and behavioral analysis |
Citations in the library
Cites 2
- The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Neuroimage June 13, 2008
- Functional connectivity in the resting brain: A network analysis of the default mode hypothesis Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences December 27, 2002