Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Brain Tumor Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Brain Connect. 2021 Dec;11(10):865-874. doi: 10.1089/brain.2020.0801. Epub 2021 Jun 17.
Glioma patients show increased global brain network clustering related to poorer cognition and epilepsy. However, it is unclear whether this increase is spatially widespread, localized in the (peri)tumor region only, or decreases with distance from the tumor. Weighted global and local brain network clustering was determined in 71 glioma patients and 53 controls by using magnetoencephalography. Tumor clustering was determined by averaging local clustering of regions overlapping with the tumor, and vice versa for non-tumor regions. Euclidean distance was determined from the tumor centroid to the centroids of other regions. Patients showed higher global clustering compared with controls. Clustering of tumor and non-tumor regions did not differ, and local clustering was not associated with distance from the tumor. analyses revealed that in the patient group, tumors were located more often in regions with higher clustering in controls, but it seemed that tumors of patients with high global clustering were located more often in regions with lower clustering in controls. Glioma patients show non-local network disturbances. Tumors of patients with high global clustering may have a preferred localization, namely regions with lower clustering in controls, suggesting that tumor localization relates to the extent of network disruption. Impact statement This work uses the innovative framework of network neuroscience to investigate functional connectivity patterns associated with brain tumors. Glioma (primary brain tumor) patients experience cognitive deficits and epileptic seizures, which have been related to brain network alterations. This study shows that glioma patients have a spatially widespread increase in global network clustering, which cannot be attributed to local effects of the tumor. Moreover, tumors occur more often in brain regions with higher network clustering in controls. This study emphasizes the global character of network alterations in glioma patients and suggests that preferred tumor locations are characterized by particular network profiles.
脑胶质瘤患者的全脑网络聚类增加，与认知功能和癫痫相关。然而，目前尚不清楚这种增加是广泛存在的，局限于肿瘤（或肿瘤周围）区域，还是随肿瘤距离的增加而减少。本研究采用脑磁图技术，对 71 例脑胶质瘤患者和 53 例对照者的全脑网络和局部网络聚类进行了分析。肿瘤聚类是通过计算与肿瘤重叠区域的局部聚类平均值来确定的，而非肿瘤区域则相反。欧式距离是从肿瘤中心点到其他区域中心点的距离。与对照组相比，患者的全局聚类更高。肿瘤和非肿瘤区域的聚类没有差异，局部聚类与肿瘤距离无关。分析表明，在患者组中，肿瘤更常位于对照组中聚类较高的区域，但似乎具有高全局聚类的患者的肿瘤更常位于对照组中聚类较低的区域。脑胶质瘤患者存在非局部网络紊乱。具有高全局聚类的患者的肿瘤可能具有优先定位，即对照组中聚类较低的区域，这表明肿瘤定位与网络破坏程度有关。本研究使用网络神经科学的创新框架，研究了与脑肿瘤相关的功能连接模式。脑胶质瘤（原发性脑肿瘤）患者会出现认知功能障碍和癫痫发作，这些与脑网络改变有关。本研究表明，脑胶质瘤患者的全脑网络聚类增加具有广泛的空间分布，这不能归因于肿瘤的局部影响。此外，肿瘤更常出现在对照组中聚类较高的脑区。本研究强调了脑胶质瘤患者网络改变的全局性，并提示肿瘤的优先位置具有特定的网络特征。
