Fateh Ahmed Ameen, Smahi Abla, Hassan Muhammad, Cañete-Massé Cristina, Mohammed Adam A Q, Yue Feng, Hu Zhanqi, Zeng Hongwu
Department of Radiology, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen 518038, China; State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering; Hainan University, Sanya 572025, China.
School of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China.
Epilepsy Res. 2025 Sep 19;218:107665. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2025.107665.
Self-Limited Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (SeLECTs) is a dominant childhood epilepsy form characterized by seizures originating from the brain's centrotemporal region. Crucially, unlocking the neural dynamics and mechanisms underlying SeLECTs paves the way for potent diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Our work investigates dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) variability in the thalamocortical circuit in SeLECTs individuals, thereby shedding light on the temporal dynamics and anomaly in connectivity patterns tied to seizure occurrence and propagation.
Utilizing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 45 SeLECTs patients and 55 healthy controls (HCs), dynamic changes in functional connectivity (FC) across various brain regions were examined over time. We selected 16 thalamic seeds to delve into dFC variability using a sliding window approach. We also evaluated clinical data from both groups to discern its correlation with dFC variability. As a final step, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) was employed for classification analysis to demonstrate the potential use of dFC variability as a distinguishing feature between SeLECTs patients and HCs.
t-test analysis manifested significant variances in dFC variability between SeLECTs and HCs groups related to thalamus seeds, also showing a correlation between VCI and certain areas. Out of 16 thalamus seeds, significant variances emerged in 9 seeds. Specifically, an increase in dFC variability was observed between the right occipital thalamus seed and the right precentral gyrus in SeLECTs patients, implying a positive connectivity alteration. On the other hand, a lowered dFC was observed between the right inferior prefrontal thalamus seed and the left cuneus, reflecting a reduction in their connectivity strength.
Our study underscores the significance of dFC variability within the thalamocortical circuit in SeLECTs individuals. The noticeable aberrant connectivity patterns enrich our understanding of temporal dynamics linked to SeLECTs seizure occurrence and propagation, thereby contributing to understanding SeLECTs pathophysiology. These insights may steer the development of precise diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for this widespread childhood epilepsy.
伴中央颞区棘波的自限性癫痫（SeLECTs）是一种主要的儿童癫痫形式，其特征是癫痫发作起源于脑的中央颞区。至关重要的是，揭示SeLECTs背后的神经动力学和机制为有效的诊断和治疗策略铺平了道路。我们的研究调查了SeLECTs患者丘脑皮质回路中的动态功能连接（dFC）变异性，从而阐明了与癫痫发作发生和传播相关的时间动态和连接模式异常。
利用45例SeLECTs患者和55名健康对照（HCs）的静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）数据，研究了不同脑区功能连接（FC）随时间的动态变化。我们选择了16个丘脑种子点，采用滑动窗口方法深入研究dFC变异性。我们还评估了两组的临床数据，以确定其与dFC变异性的相关性。最后，采用支持向量机（SVM）进行分类分析，以证明dFC变异性作为区分SeLECTs患者和HCs的特征的潜在用途。
t检验分析表明，SeLECTs组和HCs组之间与丘脑种子点相关的dFC变异性存在显著差异，同时也显示了视觉认知指数（VCI）与某些区域之间的相关性。在16个丘脑种子点中，有9个出现了显著差异。具体而言，在SeLECTs患者中，观察到右侧枕叶丘脑种子点与右侧中央前回之间的dFC变异性增加，这意味着连接性发生了正向改变。另一方面，观察到右侧额下回丘脑种子点与左侧楔叶之间的dFC降低，反映了它们连接强度的降低。
我们的研究强调了SeLECTs患者丘脑皮质回路中dFC变异性的重要性。明显异常的连接模式丰富了我们对与SeLECTs癫痫发作发生和传播相关的时间动态的理解，从而有助于理解SeLECTs的病理生理学。这些见解可能会推动针对这种常见儿童癫痫的精确诊断和治疗策略的发展。
