Kavčič Alja, Borko Daša Kocjančič, Kodrič Jana, Georgiev Dejan, Demšar Jure, Soltirovska-Šalamon Aneta
Department for Neonatology, University Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Bohoričeva 20, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Vrazov trg 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
University Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Bohoričeva 20, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Neuroimage. 2024 Aug 15;297:120743. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120743. Epub 2024 Jul 25.
Mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment after perinatal stroke could be explained through brain network alterations. With aim to explore this connection, we conducted a matched test-control study to find a correlation between functional brain network properties and cognitive functions in children after perinatal stroke. First, we analyzed resting-state functional connectomes in the alpha frequency band from a 64-channel resting state EEG in 24 children with a history of perinatal stroke (12 with neonatal arterial ischemic stroke and 12 with neonatal hemorrhagic stroke) and compared them to the functional connectomes of 24 healthy controls. Next, all participants underwent cognitive evaluation. We analyzed the differences in functional brain network properties and cognitive abilities between groups and studied the correlation between network characteristics and specific cognitive functions. Functional brain networks after perinatal stroke had lower modularity, higher clustering coefficient, higher interhemispheric strength, higher characteristic path length and higher small world index. Modularity correlated positively with the IQ and processing speed, while clustering coefficient correlated negatively with IQ. Graph metrics, reflecting network segregation (clustering coefficient and small world index) correlated positively with a tendency to impulsive decision making, which also correlated positively with graph metrics, reflecting stronger functional connectivity (characteristic path length and interhemispheric strength). Our study suggests that specific cognitive functions correlate with different brain network properties and that functional network characteristics after perinatal stroke reflect poorer cognitive functioning.
围产期卒中后认知障碍的潜在机制可通过脑网络改变来解释。为了探究这种联系，我们进行了一项匹配的测试对照研究，以寻找围产期卒中后儿童脑功能网络特性与认知功能之间的相关性。首先，我们分析了24名有围产期卒中病史的儿童（12名新生儿动脉缺血性卒中患儿和12名新生儿出血性卒中患儿）64导静息态脑电图在阿尔法频段的静息态功能连接组，并将其与24名健康对照的功能连接组进行比较。接下来，所有参与者都接受了认知评估。我们分析了两组之间脑功能网络特性和认知能力的差异，并研究了网络特征与特定认知功能之间的相关性。围产期卒中后的脑功能网络具有较低的模块化、较高的聚类系数、较高的半球间强度、较长的特征路径长度和较高的小世界指数。模块化与智商和处理速度呈正相关，而聚类系数与智商呈负相关。反映网络分离的图论指标（聚类系数和小世界指数）与冲动决策倾向呈正相关，冲动决策倾向也与反映更强功能连接性的图论指标（特征路径长度和半球间强度）呈正相关。我们的研究表明，特定的认知功能与不同的脑网络特性相关，围产期卒中后的功能网络特征反映了较差的认知功能。
