Regional, not global, functional connectivity contributes to isolated focal dystonia. (20th October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Norris, Scott A.; Morris, Aimee E.; Campbell, Meghan C.; Karimi, Morvarid; Adeyemo, Babatunde; Paniello, Randal C.; Snyder, Abraham Z.; Petersen, Steven E.; Mink, Jonathan W.; Perlmutter, Joel S.
• Is Part Of: Neurology. Volume 95:Number 16(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-10-20
• Subjects: Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurologie -- Périodiques; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000010791
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0028-3878

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: To test the hypothesis that there is shared regional or global functional connectivity dysfunction in a large cohort of patients with isolated focal dystonia affecting different body regions compared to control participants. In this case-control study, we obtained resting-state MRI scans (three or four 7.3-minute runs) with eyes closed in participants with focal dystonia (cranial [17], cervical [13], laryngeal [18], or limb [10]) and age- and sex-matched controls. Methods: Rigorous preprocessing for all analyses was performed to minimize effect of head motion during scan acquisition (dystonia n = 58, control n = 47 analyzed). We assessed regional functional connectivity by computing a seed-correlation map between putamen, pallidum, and sensorimotor cortex and all brain voxels. We assessed significant group differences on a cluster-wise basis. In a separate analysis, we applied 300 seed regions across the cortex, cerebellum, basal ganglia, and thalamus to comprehensively sample the whole brain. We obtained participant whole-brain correlation matrices by computing the correlation between seed average time courses for each seed pair. Weighted object-oriented data analysis assessed group-level whole-brain differences. Results: Participants with focal dystonia had decreased functional connectivity at the regional level, within the striatum and between lateral primary sensorimotor cortex and ventral intraparietal area, whereas whole-brain correlation matrices did not differ between focal dystonia and control groups. Rigorous quality control measures eliminated spurious large-scale functional connectivity differences between groups. Conclusion: Regional functional connectivity differences, not global network level dysfunction, contributes to common pathophysiologic mechanisms in isolated focal dystonia. Rigorous quality control eliminated spurious large-scale network differences between patients with focal dystonia and control participants.