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Progressive dissociation of cortical and subcortical network development in children with new‐onset juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
Author(s) -
GarciaRamos Camille,
Dabbs Kevin,
Lin Jack J.,
Jones Jana E.,
Stafstrom Carl E.,
Hsu David A.,
Meyerand Mary Elizabeth,
Prabhakaran Vivek,
Hermann Bruce P.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/epi.14560
Subject(s) - juvenile myoclonic epilepsy , neuroscience , psychology , epilepsy , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , radiology
Summary Objective Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have consistently documented cortical and subcortical abnormalities in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy ( JME ). However, little is known about how these structural abnormalities emerge from the time of epilepsy onset and how network interactions between and within cortical and subcortical regions may diverge in youth with JME compared to typically developing children. Methods We examined prospective covariations of volumetric differences derived from high‐resolution structural MRI during the first 2 years of epilepsy diagnosis in a group of youth with JME (n = 21) compared to healthy controls (n = 22). We indexed developmental brain changes using graph theory by computing network metrics based on the correlation of the cortical and subcortical structural covariance near the time of epilepsy and 2 years later. Results Over 2 years, normally developing children showed modular cortical development and network integration between cortical and subcortical regions. In contrast, children with JME developed a highly correlated and less modular cortical network, which was atypically dissociated from subcortical structures. Furthermore, the JME group also presented higher clustering and lower modularity indices than controls, indicating weaker modules or communities. The local efficiency in JME was higher than controls across the majority of cortical nodes. Regarding network hubs, controls presented a higher number than youth with JME that were spread across the brain with ample representation from the different modules. In contrast, children with JME showed a lower number of hubs that were mainly from one module and comprised mostly subcortical structures. Significance Youth with JME prospectively developed a network of highly correlated cortical regions dissociated from subcortical structures during the first 2 years after epilepsy onset. The cortical‐subcortical network dissociation provides converging insights into the disparate literature of cortical and subcortical abnormalities found in previous studies.