TCM Department, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Department of Information Science & Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China.
NeuroRehabilitation. 2022;51(3):455-465. doi: 10.3233/NRE-220107.
Ischemic stroke is a common type of stroke associated with reorganization of functional network of the brain.
This pilot study aimed to investigate the characteristics of functional brain networks based on EEG in patients with acute ischemic stroke.
Seven patients with ischemic stroke within 72 hours of onset and seven healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Dynamic EEG monitoring and clinical information were repeatedly collected within 72 hours (T1), on the 5th day (T2), and on the 7th day (T3) of stroke onset. A directed transfer function was employed to construct functional brain connection patterns. Graph theoretical analysis was performed to evaluate the characteristics of functional brain networks.
First, we found that the brain networks of ischemic stroke patients were quite different from the healthy controls. The clustering coefficient (0.001 < Threshold < 0.2) in Delta, Theta, and Alpha bands for the patients were significantly lower (P < 0.01) and the shortest path length in all bands (0.001 < Threshold < 0.2) for the patients were significantly longer (P < 0.01). Moreover, the peaks of the shortest path length for the patients seemed to be higher in all bands with larger thresholds. Secondly, the brain networks for the patients showed a characterized time-variation pattern. The clustering coefficient (0.001 < Threshold < 0.2) of T1 was higher than that of T2 in alpha band (P < 0.01). The shortest path length (0.001 < Threshold < 0.2) of T3 was shorter than that of T2 (P < 0.01) in all bands, and the peak of T3 was numerically higher than that of T2 in all bands with narrower thresholds.
Functional brain networks in patients with acute ischemic stroke showed impaired global functional integration and decreased efficiency of information transmission compared with healthy subjects. The shortening of the shortest path length during the recovery indicates neural plasticity and reorganization.
缺血性中风是一种常见的中风类型，与大脑功能网络的重组有关。
本研究旨在探讨急性缺血性中风患者基于 EEG 的脑功能网络的特点。
本研究纳入了 7 例发病 72 小时内的缺血性中风患者和 7 例健康对照者。在中风发病后 72 小时内（T1）、第 5 天（T2）和第 7 天（T3）重复采集动态 EEG 监测和临床信息。采用有向转移函数构建功能脑连接模式。进行图论分析评估功能脑网络的特征。
首先，我们发现缺血性中风患者的脑网络与健康对照组有很大的不同。患者在 Delta、Theta 和 Alpha 频段的聚类系数（0.001<Threshold<0.2）显著降低（P<0.01），所有频段的最短路径长度（0.001<Threshold<0.2）显著增加（P<0.01）。此外，患者的最短路径长度峰值似乎在所有带通滤波器中都随着阈值的增大而升高。其次，患者的脑网络表现出特征性的时变模式。Alpha 频段 T1 的聚类系数（0.001<Threshold<0.2）高于 T2（P<0.01）。所有频段 T3 的最短路径长度（0.001<Threshold<0.2）均短于 T2（P<0.01），且所有带通滤波器中 T3 的峰值均高于 T2。
与健康受试者相比，急性缺血性中风患者的脑功能网络表现出全局功能整合受损和信息传递效率降低。最短路径长度在恢复期的缩短表明了神经可塑性和重组。
