Open AccessMagnetoencephalography Imaging Reveals Abnormal Information Flow in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Author(s) -
Kiwamu Kudo,
Hirofumi Morise,
Kamalini G. Ranasinghe,
Danielle Mizuiri,
Abhishek S. Bhutada,
Jessie Chen,
Anne Findlay,
Heidi E. Kirsch,
Srikantan S. Nagarajan
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
brain connectivity
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2158-0022
pISSN - 2158-0014
DOI - 10.1089/brain.2020.0989
Subject(s) - magnetoencephalography , epilepsy , temporal lobe , neuroscience , ictal , transfer entropy , psychology , default mode network , electroencephalography , functional magnetic resonance imaging , computer science , artificial intelligence , principle of maximum entropy
Background/Introduction: Widespread network disruption has been hypothesized to be an important predictor of outcomes in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Most studies examining functional network disruption in epilepsy have largely focused on the symmetric bidirectional metrics of the strength of network connections. However, a more complete description of network dysfunction impacts in epilepsy requires an investigation of the potentially more sensitive directional metrics of information flow. Methods: This study describes a whole-brain magnetoencephalography-imaging approach to examine resting-state directional information flow networks, quantified by phase-transfer entropy (PTE), in patients with TLE compared with healthy controls (HCs). Associations between PTE and clinical characteristics of epilepsy syndrome are also investigated. Results: Deficits of information flow were specific to alpha-band frequencies. In alpha band, while HCs exhibit a clear posterior-to-anterior directionality of information flow, in patients with TLE, this pattern of regional information outflow and inflow was significantly altered in the frontal and occipital regions. The changes in information flow within the alpha band in selected brain regions were correlated with interictal spike frequency and duration of epilepsy. Conclusions: Impaired information flow is an important dimension of network dysfunction associated with the pathophysiological mechanisms of TLE.