Extratemporal functional connectivity impairments at rest are related to memory performance in mesial temporal epilepsy.

Authors

Gaelle Eve Doucet, Department of Neurology, Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College; Department of Neurosurgery, Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical CollegeFollow
Karol Osipowicz, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Ashwini Sharan MD, Department of Neurosurgery, Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical CollegeFollow
Michael R Sperling, Department of Neurosurgery, Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical CollegeFollow
Joseph I Tracy, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2013

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It was published in: Human Brain Mapping.
Volume 34, Issue 9, September 2013, Pages 2202-2216.
The published version is available at DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22059

Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Abstract

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most frequent form of focal epilepsy. At rest, there is evidence that brain abnormalities in MTLE are not limited to the epileptogenic region, but extend throughout the whole brain. It is also well established that MTLE patients suffer from episodic memory deficits. Thus, we investigated the relation between the functional connectivity seen at rest in fMRI and episodic memory impairments in MTLE. We focused on resting state BOLD activity and evaluated whether functional connectivity (FC) differences emerge from MTL seeds in left and right MTLE groups, compared with healthy controls. Results revealed significant FC reductions in both patient groups, localized in angular gyri, thalami, posterior cingulum and medial frontal cortex. We found that the FC between the left non-pathologic MTL and the medial frontal cortex was positively correlated with the delayed recall score of a non-verbal memory test in right MTLE patients, suggesting potential adaptive changes to preserve this memory function. In contrast, we observed a negative correlation between a verbal memory test and the FC between the left pathologic MTL and posterior cingulum in left MTLE patients, suggesting potential functional maladaptative changes in the pathologic hemisphere. Overall, the present study provides some indication that left MTLE may be more impairing than right MTLE patients to normative functional connectivity. Our data also indicates that the pattern of extra-temporal FC may vary as a function of episodic memory material and each hemisphere's capacity for cognitive reorganization.

Recommended Citation

Doucet, Gaelle Eve; Osipowicz, Karol; Sharan MD, Ashwini; Sperling, Michael R; and Tracy, Joseph I, "Extratemporal functional connectivity impairments at rest are related to memory performance in mesial temporal epilepsy." (2013). Department of Neurology Faculty Papers. Paper 84.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/neurologyfp/84

PubMed ID

22505284