Cerebellar functional disruption and compensation in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

Yiqian Peng; Kangrun Wang; Chaorong Liu; Langzi Tan; Min Zhang; Jialinzi He; Yuwei Dai; Ge Wang; Xianghe Liu; Bo Xiao; Fangfang Xie; Lili Long

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1062149

Cerebellar functional disruption and compensation in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

Front Neurol. 2023 Feb 2:14:1062149. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1062149. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yiqian Peng¹, Kangrun Wang^{2

3}, Chaorong Liu², Langzi Tan², Min Zhang², Jialinzi He², Yuwei Dai², Ge Wang², Xianghe Liu², Bo Xiao², Fangfang Xie⁴, Lili Long^{2

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
² Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁵ Clinical Research Center for Epileptic Disease of Hunan Province, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁶ National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Background: Cerebellar functional alterations are common in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), which contribute to cognitive decline. This study aimed to deepen our knowledge of cerebellar functional alterations in patients with MTLE.

Methods: In this study, participants were recruited from an ongoing prospective cohort of 13 patients with left TLE (LTLE), 17 patients with right TLE (RTLE), and 30 healthy controls (HCs). Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected during a Chinese verbal fluency task. Group independent component (IC) analysis (group ICA) was applied to segment the cerebellum into six functionally separated networks. Functional connectivity was compared among cerebellar networks, cerebellar activation maps, and the centrality parameters of cerebellar regions. For cerebellar functional profiles with significant differences, we calculated their correlation with clinical features and neuropsychological scores.

Result: Compared to HCs and patients with LTLE, patients with RTLE had higher cerebellar functional connectivity between the default mode network (DMN) and the oculomotor network and lower cerebellar functional connectivity from the frontoparietal network (FPN) to the dorsal attention network (DAN) (p < 0.05, false discovery rate- (FDR-) corrected). Cerebellar degree centrality (DC) of the right lobule III was significantly higher in patients with LTLE compared to HC and patients with RTLE (p < 0.05, FDR-corrected). Higher cerebellar functional connectivity between the DMN and the oculomotor network, as well as lower cerebellar degree centrality of the right lobule III, was correlated with worse information test performance.

Conclusion: Cerebellar functional profiles were altered in MTLE and correlated with long-term memory in patients.

Keywords: cerebellum; fMRI; graph theory; independent component analysis (ICA); temporal lobe epilepsy; verbal fluency task.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC1005305), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82171454), the Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province (2022SK2042), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2020JJ5914), the Innovative Construction Foundation of Hunan Province (2021SK4001), and the National Multidisciplinary Cooperative Diagnosis and Treatment Capacity Project for Major Diseases of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University (z027001).