Background/Purpose: To investigate the association between the degree of spatial neglect and the changes of brain system segregation (SyS; i.e., the ratio of the extent to which brain networks interact internally and with each other) after stroke. Methods: A cohort of 20 patients with right hemisphere lesion was submitted to neuropsychological assessment as well as to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging session at acute stage after stroke. The severity of spatial neglect was quantified using the Center of Cancellation (CoC) scores of the Bells cancellation test. For each patient, resting-state functional connectivity (FC) matrices were assessed by implementing a brain parcellation of nine networks that included the visual network, dorsal attention network (DAN), ventral attention network (VAN), sensorimotor network (SMN), auditory network, cingulo-opercular network, language network, frontoparietal network, and default mode network (DMN). For each patient and each network, we then computed the SyS derived by subtracting the between-network FC from the within-network FC (normalized by the within-network FC). Finally, for each network, the CoC scores were correlated with the SyS. Results: The correlational analyses indicated a negative association between CoC and SyS in the DAN, VAN, SMN, and DMN (q < 0.05 false discovery rate [FDR]-corrected). Patients with more severe spatial neglect exhibited lower SyS and vice versa. Conclusion: The loss of segregation in multiple and specific networks provides a functional framework for the deficits in spatial and nonspatial attention and motor/exploratory ability observed in neglect patients.
Keywords: functional connectivity; graph theory; neglect; stroke; system segregation.