Piper, RJ;
Tangwiriyasakul, C;
Shamshiri, EA;
Centeno, M;
He, X;
Richardson, MP;
Tisdall, MM;
(2021)
Functional Connectivity of the Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in Pediatric Focal Epilepsy.
Frontiers in Neurology
, 12
10.3389/fneur.2021.670881.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Whilst stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus has shown efficacy for reducing seizure frequency in adults, alterations in thalamic connectivity have not been explored in children. We tested the hypotheses that (a) the anterior thalamus has increased functional connectivity in children with focal epilepsy, and (b) this alteration in the connectome is a persistent effect of the disease rather than due to transient epileptiform activity. METHODS: Data from 35 children (7–18 years) with focal, drug-resistant epilepsy and 20 healthy children (7–17 years) were analyzed. All subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) whilst resting and were simultaneously monitored with scalp electroencephalography (EEG). The fMRI timeseries were extracted for each Automated Anatomical Labeling brain region and thalamic subregion. Graph theory metrics [degree (DC) and eigenvector (EC) centrality] were used to summarize the connectivity profile of the ipsilateral thalamus, and its thalamic parcellations. The effect of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) captured on EEG was used to determine their effect on DC and EC. RESULTS: DC was significantly higher in the anterior nucleus (p = 0.04) of the thalamus ipsilateral to the epileptogenic zone in children with epilepsy compared to controls. On exploratory analyses, we similarly found a higher DC in the lateral dorsal nucleus (p = 0.02), but not any other thalamic subregion. No differences in EC measures were found between patients and controls. We did not find any significant difference in DC or EC in any thalamic subregion when comparing the results of children with epilepsy before, and after the removal of the effects of IEDs. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the anterior and lateral dorsal nuclei of the thalamus are more highly functionally connected in children with poorly controlled focal epilepsy. We did not detect a convincing change in thalamic connectivity caused by transient epileptiform activity, suggesting that it represents a persistent alteration to network dynamics.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Functional Connectivity of the Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in Pediatric Focal Epilepsy |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fneur.2021.670881 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.670881 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 Piper, Tangwiriyasakul, Shamshiri, Centeno, He, Richardson, Tisdall and Carmichael. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
| Keywords: | Epilepsy, focal epilepsies, childhood epilepsies, deep brain stimulation, functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephaloagraphy, connectivity, thalamus |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Neurosciences Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10133799 |
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