Causality Analysis to the Abnormal Subcortical-Cortical Connections in Idiopathic-Generalized Epilepsy

Yun Qin; Sipei Li; Dezhong Yao; Cheng Luo

doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.925968

Causality Analysis to the Abnormal Subcortical-Cortical Connections in Idiopathic-Generalized Epilepsy

Front Neurosci. 2022 Jun 30:16:925968. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.925968. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yun Qin^{1

2}, Sipei Li³, Dezhong Yao^{1

2}, Cheng Luo¹

Affiliations

¹ Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
² Sichuan Institute for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Chengdu, China.
³ Glasgow College, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) was characterized by 3-6 Hz generalized spike-wave discharges (GSWDs), and extensive altered interactions in subcortical-cortical circuit. However, the dynamics and the causal relationship among these interactions were less studied. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, the abnormal connections in the subcortical-cortical pathway in IGE were examined. Then, we proposed a novel method of granger causal analysis based on the dynamic functional connectivity, and the predictive effects among these abnormal connections were calculated. The results showed that the thalamus, and precuneus were key regions representing abnormal functional network connectivity (FNC) in the subcortical-cortical circuit. Moreover, the connectivity between precuneus and adjacent regions had a causal effect on the widespread dysfunction of the thalamocortical circuit. In addition, the connection between the striatum and thalamus indicated the modulation role on the cortical connection in epilepsy. These results described the causality of the widespread abnormality of the subcortical-cortical circuit in IGE in terms of the dynamics of functional connections, which provided additional evidence for understanding the potential modulation pattern of the abnormal epileptic pathway.

Keywords: causal relationship; dynamic functional networks; idiopathic generalized epilepsy; modulation; subcortical-cortical circuit.