title: Altered Structural and Functional Feature of Striato-Cortical Circuit in Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes.
abstract: Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECT) is the most common form of childhood idiopathic focal epilepsy syndrome. We investigated quantitative evidence regarding brain morphology and functional connectivity features to provide insight into the neuroanatomical foundation of this disorder, using high resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting state functional MRI in 21 patients with BECT and in 20 healthy children. The functional connectivity analysis, seeded at the regions with altered gray-matter (GM) volume in voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis, was further performed. Then, the observed structural and functional alteration were investigated for their association with the clinical and behavior manifestations. The increased GM volume in the striatum and fronto-temporo-parietal cortex (striato-cortical circuit) was observed in BECT. The decreased connections were found among the motor network and frontostriatal loop, and between the default mode network (DMN) and language regions. Additionally, the GM of striatum was negatively correlated with age at epilepsy onset. The current observations may contribute to the understanding of the altered structural and functional feature of striato-cortical circuit in patients with BECT. The findings also implied alterations of the motor network and DMN, which were associated with the epileptic activity in patients with BECT. This further suggested that the onset of BECT might have enduring structural and functional effects on brain maturation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging, Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, North Sichuan Medical College, NanChong 637007, China.
authors.forename: Yaodan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging, Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Weifang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, North Sichuan Medical College, NanChong 637007, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, North Sichuan Medical College, NanChong 637007, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, North Sichuan Medical College, NanChong 637007, China.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging, Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Shipeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, North Sichuan Medical College, NanChong 637007, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging, Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Dezhong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019305:Epilepsy, Rolandic / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes; functional connectivity; resting state functional MRI; striato-cortical circuit; voxel based morphometry