Li Yongxin, Wang Jianping, Wang Xiao, Chen Qian, Qin Bing, Chen Jiaxu
Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Formula-Pattern of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Formula-pattern Research Center, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Front Neurosci. 2022 Jul 22;16:953356. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.953356. eCollection 2022.
A number of studies in adults and children with generalized tonic-clonic seizure (GTCS) have reported the alterations in morphometry, functional activity, and functional connectivity (FC) in the thalamus. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the alterations in the thalamus of patients with GTCS are not well understood, particularly in children. The aim of the current study was to explore the temporal properties of functional pathways connecting thalamus in children with GTCS.
Here, we recruited 24 children with GTCS and 36 age-matched healthy controls. Static and dynamic FC approaches were used to evaluate alterations in the temporal variability of thalamo-cortical networks in children with GTCS. The dynamic effective connectivity (dEC) method was also used to evaluate the directions of the fluctuations in effective connectivity. In addition, the relationships between the dynamic properties and clinical features were assessed.
The static FC analysis presented significantly decreased connectivity patterns between the bilateral thalamus and between the thalamus and right inferior temporal gyrus. The dynamic connectivity analysis found decreased FC variability in the thalamo-cortical network of children with epilepsy. Dynamic EC analyses identified increased connectivity variability from the frontal gyrus to the bilateral thalamus, and decreased connectivity variability from the right thalamus to the left thalamus and from the right thalamus to the right superior parietal lobe. In addition, correlation analysis revealed that both static FC and connectivity temporal variability in the thalamo-cortical network related to the clinical features (epilepsy duration and epilepsy onset time).
Our findings of both increased and decreased connectivity variability in the thalamo-cortical network imply a dynamic restructuring of the functional pathways connecting the thalamus in children with GTCS. These alterations in static and temporal dynamic pathways connecting the bilateral thalamus may extend our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the GTCS in children.
多项针对成人和儿童全面性强直阵挛发作（GTCS）的研究报告了丘脑在形态测量、功能活动和功能连接（FC）方面的改变。然而，GTCS患者丘脑改变背后的神经机制尚未完全明确，尤其是在儿童中。本研究的目的是探讨GTCS儿童中连接丘脑的功能通路的时间特性。
我们招募了24名患有GTCS的儿童和36名年龄匹配的健康对照。采用静态和动态FC方法评估GTCS儿童丘脑 - 皮质网络时间变异性的改变。还使用动态有效连接（dEC）方法评估有效连接波动的方向。此外，评估了动态特性与临床特征之间的关系。
静态FC分析显示双侧丘脑之间以及丘脑与右侧颞下回之间的连接模式显著降低。动态连接分析发现癫痫儿童丘脑 - 皮质网络中的FC变异性降低。动态EC分析确定从额回至双侧丘脑的连接变异性增加，从右侧丘脑至左侧丘脑以及从右侧丘脑至右侧顶上叶的连接变异性降低。此外，相关分析表明丘脑 - 皮质网络中的静态FC和连接时间变异性均与临床特征（癫痫持续时间和癫痫发作时间）相关。
我们在丘脑 - 皮质网络中发现连接变异性增加和降低的结果意味着GTCS儿童中连接丘脑的功能通路发生了动态重组。双侧丘脑连接的静态和时间动态通路的这些改变可能会扩展我们对儿童GTCS潜在神经机制的理解。
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