Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the local spatiotemporal consistency of spontaneous brain activity in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE).MethodEyes closed resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from 19 FLE patients and 19 age‐ and gender‐matched healthy controls. A novel measure, named FOur‐dimensional (spatiotemporal) Consistency of local neural Activities (FOCA) was used to assess the spatiotemporal consistency of local spontaneous activity (emphasizing both local temporal homogeneity and regional stability of brain activity states). Then, two‐sample t test was performed to detect the FOCA differences between two groups. Partial correlations between the FOCA values and durations of epilepsy were further analyzed.Key FindingsCompared with controls, FLE patients demonstrated increased FOCA in distant brain regions including the frontal and parietal cortices, as well as the basal ganglia. The decreased FOCA was located in the temporal cortex, posterior default model regions, and cerebellum. In addition, the FOCA measure was linked to the duration of epilepsy in basal ganglia.SignificanceOur study suggested that alterations of local spontaneous activity in frontoparietal cortex and basal ganglia was associated with the pathophysiology of FLE; and the abnormality in frontal and default model regions might account for the potential cognitive impairment in FLE. We also presumed that the FOCA measure had potential to provide important insights into understanding epilepsy such as FLE.
Highlights
As the second most common type of localization-related epilepsies, frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) accounts for 20%–30% of all partial epilepsies (Manford, Hart, Sander, & Shorvon, 1992), and it will impact on a broad range of cognitive domains in FLE patients (Braakman et al, 2011, 2012; Exner et al, 2002)
A significant partial correlation was found in the left caudate
Using a FOCA measure of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the spatiotemporal consistency of local spontaneous activity in FLE patients was investigated in this study
Summary
As the second most common type of localization-related epilepsies, frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) accounts for 20%–30% of all partial epilepsies (Manford, Hart, Sander, & Shorvon, 1992), and it will impact on a broad range of cognitive domains in FLE patients (Braakman et al, 2011, 2012; Exner et al, 2002). A wide cognitive dysfunctions and behavioral disturbances in FLE patients, ranging from impairment While previous resting-state fMRI studies of FLE focused on the single resting-state network such as motor network (Woodward, Gaxiola-Valdez, Goodyear, & Federico, 2014), connectivity pattern of epileptic network (Luo et al, 2014), or relationships between resting-state networks (Cao et al, 2014; Widjaja et al, 2013), investigation of the local spontaneous activity using FOCA measure may provide important information that will help to understand FLE
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
