Abnormal structural connectivity between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex in patients with disorders of consciousness. (May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weng, Ling; Xie, Qiuyou; Zhao, Ling; Zhang, Ruibin; Ma, Qing; Wang, Junjing; Jiang, Wenjie; He, Yanbin; Chen, Yan; Li, Changhong; Ni, Xiaoxiao; Xu, Qin; Yu, Ronghao; Huang, Ruiwang
• Is Part Of: Cortex. Volume 90(2017)
• Page Start: 71
• Page End: 87
• Publication Date: 2017-05
• Subjects: Network-based statistic -- Fractional anisotropy -- Head motion -- Fronto-parietal network -- Basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network; AD axial diffusivity -- BG basal ganglia -- DOC disorders of consciousness -- DTI diffusion tensor imaging -- EMCS emerged minimally conscious state -- FA fractional anisotropy -- HC healthy control -- LIS locked-in syndrome -- MCS minimally conscious state -- NBS network based statistic -- RD radial diffusivity -- ROC receiver operating characteristic -- VS/UWS vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome -- WM white matter; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; 612.825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.02.011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0010-9452

Abstract

Abstract: Consciousness loss in patients with severe brain injuries is associated with reduced functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN), fronto-parietal network, and thalamo-cortical network. However, it is still unclear if the brain white matter connectivity between the above mentioned networks is changed in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). In this study, we collected diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data from 13 patients and 17 healthy controls, constructed whole-brain white matter (WM) structural networks with probabilistic tractography. Afterward, we estimated and compared topological properties, and revealed an altered structural organization in the patients. We found a disturbance in the normal balance between segregation and integration in brain structural networks and detected significantly decreased nodal centralities primarily in the basal ganglia and thalamus in the patients. A network-based statistical analysis detected a subnetwork with uniformly significantly decreased structural connections between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex in the patients. Further analysis indicated that along the WM fiber tracts linking the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex, the fractional anisotropy was decreased and the radial diffusivity was increased in the patients compared to the controls. Finally, using the receiver operating characteristic method, we found that the structural connections within the NBS-derived component that showed differences between the groups demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity (>90%). Our results suggested that major consciousness deficits in DOC patients may be related to the altered WM connections between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex.