Abstract
In this study, we investigated changes in resting state networks (RSNs) in patients with gliomas located in the left hemisphere and its relation to cognitive function. We hypothesized that long distance connection, especially between hemispheres, would be affected by the presence of the tumor. We further hypothesized that these changes would correlate with, or reflect cognitive changes observed in patients with gliomas. Resting state functional MRI datasets from 12 patients and 12 healthy controls were used in the analysis. The tumor’s effect on three well-known RSNs including the default mode network (DMN), executive control network (ECN), and salience network (SN) identified using independent component analysis were investigated using dual regression analysis. Scores of neuropsychometric testing (WAIS-III and WMS-R) were also compared. Compared to the healthy control group, the patient group showed significant decrease in functional connectivity in the right angular gyrus/inferior parietal lobe of the ventral DMN and in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the left ECN, whereas a significant increase in connectivity in the right ECN was observed in the right parietal lobe. Changes in connectivity in the right ECN correlated with spatial memory, while that on the left ECN correlated with attention. Connectivity changes in the ventral DMN correlated with attention, working memory, full IQ, and verbal IQ measures. Although the tumors were localized in the left side of the brain, changes in connectivity were observed in the contralateral side. Moreover, these changes correlated with some aspects of cognitive function indicating that patients with gliomas may undergo cognitive changes even in the absence of or before the onset of major symptoms. Evaluation of resting state networks could be helpful in advancing our hodological understanding of brain function in glioma cases.
Highlights
According to a national survey of brain tumor patients in 1989, the most common symptoms include headache (56%), epilepsy (28%), and/or progressive neurological functional loss (68%) [1]
We further investigated the regions showing significant changes in functional connectivity obtained in the dual regression analysis using seed-based analysis
Ventral default mode network (DMN) showed significant decrease in functional connectivity in the right angular gyrus/inferior parietal lobe in patients with brain tumor compared to healthy controls
Summary
According to a national survey of brain tumor patients in 1989, the most common symptoms include headache (56%), epilepsy (28%), and/or progressive neurological functional loss (68%) [1]. Wide spread use of non-invasive imaging technologies lead to improved diagnosis of patients without or with only minor symptoms, which has further increased this percentage. For these patients, detailed neuropsychometric tests often reveal some deficits in cognitive function including comprehension, performance, executive control, working memory, and attention. Such changes in cognition are often difficult to explain when considering only the damage caused by the tumor in focal regions of brain. To fully understand these changes requires topological and network-based (hodological [2]) approaches
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