title: Changes in brain functional connectivity patterns are driven by an individual lesion in MS: a resting-state fMRI study.
abstract: Diffuse inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) extends beyond focal lesion sites, affecting interconnected regions; however, little is known about the impact of an individual lesion affecting major white matter (WM) pathways on brain functional connectivity (FC). Here, we longitudinally assessed the effects of acute and chronic lesions on FC in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients using resting-state fMRI. 45 MRI data sets from 9 RRMS patients were recorded using 3T MR scanner over 5 time points at 8 week intervals. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence (n = 5; MS+) and absence (n = 4; MS-) of a lesion at a predilection site for MS. While FC levels were found not to fluctuate significantly in the overall patient group, the MS+ patient group showed increased FC in the contralateral cuneus and precuneus and in the ipsilateral precuneus (p < 0.01, corrected). This can be interpreted as the recruitment of intact cortical regions to compensate for tissue damage. During the study, one patient developed an acute WM lesion in the left posterior periventricular space. A marked increase in FC in the right pre-, post-central gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, the left cuneus, the vermis and the posterior and anterior lobes of the cerebellum was noted following the clinical relapse, which gradually decreased in subsequent follow-ups, suggesting short-term functional reorganization during the acute phase. This strongly suggests that the lesion-related network changes observed in patients with chronic lesions occur as a result of reorganization processes following the initial appearance of an acute lesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.|Neuroimaging Center (NIC) of the Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Amgad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Droby
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Center (NIC) of the Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Kenneth S L
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Yuen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.|Neuroimaging Center (NIC) of the Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Muthuraman
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muthuraman
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.|Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah-Christina
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Reitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Vinzenz
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fleischer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.|Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.|Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: René-Maxime
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gracien
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Stroke, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ziemann
authors.affiliation: Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deichmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.|Neuroimaging Center (NIC) of the Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zipp
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany. sergiu.groppa@unimedizin-mainz.de.|Neuroimaging Center (NIC) of the Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany. sergiu.groppa@unimedizin-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Sergiu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Groppa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D066264:Datasets as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D012146:Rest; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Compensation; Functional connectivity; Neuroplasticity; rs-fMRI