Department of Neurology, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
MEG Center, Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Brain Behav. 2020 Dec;10(12):e01854. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1854. Epub 2020 Sep 22.
This study was aimed to explore the relationship between neural network changes in newly diagnosed children with Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS) and cognitive impairment.
Children's cognition was evaluated using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data of 18 healthy children and 22 BECTS patients were recorded in order to construct a functional connectivity (FC) network, which was quantified by graph theory (GT).
The mean age of the control group was 7.94 ± 1.89 years, and the mean age of BECTS patients was 8.14 ± 1.73 years. Our results show that the WISC-IV index scores in the BECTS group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Besides, the FC network pattern of BECTS patients changed significantly in the 12-30, 30-80, and 250-500 Hz frequency band. The local functional connections between posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and frontal lobe varied significantly in 12-30, 80-250, and 250-500 Hz. Our GT analysis shows that the connection strength of BECTS patients increases significantly in the 12-30 Hz frequency band, the path length decreases significantly in the 12-30 Hz and 30-80 Hz frequency bands, with the clustering coefficient decreasing significantly in the 12-30 Hz, 30-80 Hz, and 250-500 Hz frequency bands. Correlation analysis showed that the full-scale IQ (FSIQ) was positively correlated with the 12-30 Hz clustering coefficient, verbal comprehension index (VCI) was positively correlated with the 250-500 Hz clustering coefficient, perceptual reasoning index (PRI) was positively correlated with the 12-30 Hz clustering coefficient, and perceptual reasoning index (PSI) was negatively correlated with the 12-30 Hz path length.
There is a trend of cognitive impairment in patients with early BECTS. This trend of cognitive impairment in early BECTS children may be related to the changes in the FC network pattern.
本研究旨在探索新诊断的良性儿童癫痫伴中央颞区棘波（BECTS）患儿的神经网络变化与认知障碍之间的关系。
使用韦氏儿童智力量表第四版（WISC-IV）评估儿童认知能力。记录了 18 名健康儿童和 22 名 BECTS 患者的脑磁图（MEG）数据，以构建功能连接（FC）网络，并通过图论（GT）进行量化。
对照组的平均年龄为 7.94±1.89 岁，BECTS 患者的平均年龄为 8.14±1.73 岁。我们的结果表明，BECTS 组的 WISC-IV 指数得分明显低于对照组。此外，BECTS 患者的 FC 网络模式在 12-30、30-80 和 250-500 Hz 频段发生了显著变化。后扣带回皮层（PCC）与额叶之间的局部功能连接在 12-30、80-250 和 250-500 Hz 频段有明显变化。我们的 GT 分析表明，BECTS 患者在 12-30 Hz 频段的连接强度显著增加，在 12-30 Hz 和 30-80 Hz 频段的路径长度显著降低，在 12-30 Hz、30-80 Hz 和 250-500 Hz 频段的聚类系数显著降低。相关性分析表明，全量表智商（FSIQ）与 12-30 Hz 聚类系数呈正相关，言语理解指数（VCI）与 250-500 Hz 聚类系数呈正相关，知觉推理指数（PRI）与 12-30 Hz 聚类系数呈正相关，知觉推理指数（PSI）与 12-30 Hz 路径长度呈负相关。
早期 BECTS 患者存在认知障碍趋势。这种早期 BECTS 患儿认知障碍的趋势可能与 FC 网络模式的变化有关。
