Alterations of Functional Connectivity in Stroke Patients With Basal Ganglia Damage and Cognitive Impairment.

Guanqun Yao,Long Cheng,Huafu Chen,Jiaojian Wang,Jing Li,Sha Liu,Xinrong Li,Yong Xu,Xiaohua Cao

doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.00980

Abstract

Background: Stroke with basal ganglia damage (SBG) is a neurological disorder characterized by cognitive impairment. The neurobiological mechanism of cognitive impairment in stroke patients with basal ganglia damage (SBG patients) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the underlying neurobiological mechanism of cognitive impairment in SBG patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI).Methods: The differences in functional connectivity (FC) between 14 SBG patients (average age: 61.00 ± 7.45 years) and 21 healthy controls (HC) (average age: 60.67 ± 6.95 years) were examined using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) and degree centrality (DC). Moreover, we compared the cognitive functions of SBG patients with HC using the Chinese Revised Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-RC) and Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS).Results: Full-scale intelligence quotient (FIQ) (t = 2.810, p < 0.010) and memory quotient (MQ) (t = 2.920, p < 0.010) scores of SBG patients were significantly lower than those of HC. Compared with HC, significantly decreased VMHC values in the bilateral angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, hippocampus, precuneus, precentral gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus and decreased DC values in the right supramarginal gyrus, bilateral angular gyrus, and right postcentral gyrus were observed in SBG patients. Moreover, the VMHC values in the angular gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus and the DC values in the right supramarginal gyrus were significantly correlated with cognitive functions in all participants.Conclusion: Our findings may provide a neural basis for cognitive impairments in SBG patients. Furthermore, local abnormalities of functional networks and interhemispheric interaction deficits may provide new ideas and insights for understanding and treating SBG patients' cognitive impairments.

Highlights

Stroke, which induces complex chronic disability, is the third leading cause of death all around the world [1]
Given that few studies have focused on the association between the alterations of functional connection and comprehensive cognitive functional impairments in Stroke with basal ganglia damage (SBG) patients, in our study, we focused on the effects of basal ganglia damage on other cortical regions and functional networks to reveal its associations with cognitive functions
Our study focused on SBG patients and further identified the neural basis of cognitive impairments in stroke patients by combining Voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) and degree centrality (DC) methods

Summary

Introduction

Stroke, which induces complex chronic disability, is the third leading cause of death all around the world [1]. A previous study reported that a loss of blood vessel supply to the brain in stroke patients leads to structural damage of gray or white matter [3]. Significant abnormalities were found in the cognitive networks of stroke patients, such as the default network (DMN), and the somatic motor network (SMN) [6]. These studies were not based on specific stroke sites, which makes the study of the effects of specific sites on cognitive function in stroke patients important. The neurobiological mechanism of cognitive impairment in stroke patients with basal ganglia damage (SBG patients) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the underlying neurobiological mechanism of cognitive impairment in SBG patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI)

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Conclusion