Open AccessStructural disconnectome mapping of cognitive function in poststroke patients
Author(s) -
Kolskår Knut K.,
Ulrichsen Kristine M.,
Richard Genevieve,
Dørum Erlend S.,
Schotten Michel Thiebaut,
Rokicki Jaroslav,
MonereoSánchez Jennifer,
Engvig Andreas,
Hansen Hege Ihle,
Nordvik Jan Egil,
Westlye Lars T.,
Alnæs Dag
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
brain and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 41
ISSN - 2162-3279
DOI - 10.1002/brb3.2707
Subject(s) - cognition , stroke (engine) , psychology , middle frontal gyrus , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , montreal cognitive assessment , putamen , physical medicine and rehabilitation , medicine , neuroscience , cognitive impairment , mechanical engineering , engineering
Background and purpose Sequalae following stroke represents a significant challenge in current rehabilitation. The location and size of focal lesions are only moderately predictive of the diverse cognitive outcome after stroke. One explanation building on recent work on brain networks proposes that the cognitive consequences of focal lesions are caused by damages to anatomically distributed brain networks supporting cognition rather than specific lesion locations. Methods To investigate the association between poststroke structural disconnectivity and cognitive performance, we estimated individual level whole‐brain disconnectivity probability maps based on lesion maps from 102 stroke patients using normative data from healthy controls. Cognitive performance was assessed in the whole sample using Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and a more comprehensive computerized test protocol was performed on a subset ( n = 82). Results Multivariate analysis using Partial Least Squares on the disconnectome maps revealed that higher disconnectivity in right insular and frontal operculum, superior temporal gyrus and putamen was associated with poorer MoCA performance, indicating that lesions in regions connected with these brain regions are more likely to cause cognitive impairment. Furthermore, our results indicated that disconnectivity within these clusters was associated with poorer performance across multiple cognitive domains. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that the extent and distribution of structural disconnectivity following stroke are sensitive to cognitive deficits and may provide important clinical information predicting poststroke cognitive sequalae.