Abstract
Brain entropy (BEN) mapping provides a novel approach to characterize brain temporal dynamics, a key feature of human brain. Using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI), reliable and spatially distributed BEN patterns have been identified in normal brain, suggesting a potential use in clinical populations since temporal brain dynamics and entropy may be altered in disease conditions. The purpose of this study was to characterize BEN in multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurodegenerative disease that affects millions of people. Since currently there is no cure for MS, developing treatment or medication that can slow down its progression represents a high research priority, for which validating a brain marker sensitive to disease and the related functional impairments is essential. Because MS can start long time before any measurable symptoms and structural deficits, assessing the dynamic brain activity and correspondingly BEN may provide a critical way to study MS and its progression. Because BEN is new to MS, we aimed to assess BEN alterations in the relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients using a patient versus control design, to examine the correlation of BEN to clinical measurements, and to check the correlation of BEN to structural brain measures which have been more often used in MS studies. As compared to controls, RRMS patients showed increased BEN in motor areas, executive control area, spatial coordinating area, and memory system. Increased BEN was related to greater disease severity as measured by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and greater tissue damage as indicated by the mean diffusivity. Patients also showed decreased BEN in other places, which was associated with less disability or fatigue, indicating a disease-related BEN re-distribution. Our results suggest BEN as a novel and useful tool for characterizing RRMS.
Highlights
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory central nervous system disease that causes physical and psychiatric problems including weakness, visual loss, bowel, fatigue, mood symptoms, cognitive issues, and psychiatry problems such as depression, anxiety, etc [1,2]
We found both increased and decreased resting brain entropy (BEN) in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) in areas involved in motor control, integration and execution (SMA, precentral operculum (PrCO), right posterior cerebellum (pCB), and brainstem), cognitive control (PFC), spatial coordination, and memory (MTG and pHIPP) function
In supplementary motor area (SMA), we further found a positive correlation between BEN and expanded disability status scale (EDSS), suggesting that BEN alteration in SMA is directly related with RRMS with higher BEN corresponding to more severe disability
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory central nervous system disease that causes physical and psychiatric problems including weakness, visual loss, bowel, fatigue, mood symptoms, cognitive issues, and psychiatry problems such as depression, anxiety, etc [1,2]. Abnormal Functional Entropy in MS role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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