title: New hypothesis on pontine-frontal eye field connectivity in Kleine-Levin syndrome.
abstract: Previous studies have indicated involvement of the thalamus and the pons in Kleine-Levin syndrome. In the present study, functional connectivity of the thalamus and the pons was investigated in asymptomatic patients with Kleine-Levin syndrome and healthy controls. Twelve patients and 14 healthy controls were investigated by functional magnetic resonance imaging during rest. Resting state images were analysed using seed regions of interest in the thalamus and the pons. The results showed significantly lower functional connectivity between the pons and the frontal eye field in persons with Kleine-Levin syndrome compared with healthy controls. There were no connectivity differences involving the thalamus. Based on these findings, a relation is proposed between the sleep disorder Kleine-Levin syndrome and cerebral control of eye movements, which in turn is related to visual attention and working memory. This hypothesis has to be tested in future studies of oculomotor control in Kleine-Levin syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Health Sciences (IMH), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2167-2450
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Engström
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Neurology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKE), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Medical Specialist, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKE), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Neuroscience/Neurology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Landtblom
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Behavioral Science and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karlsson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D017593:Kleine-Levin Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D011149:Pons / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012146:Rest; D013788:Thalamus / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: nystagmus; periodic idiopathic hypersomnia; saccades; working memory