title: Altered basal ganglia-cortical functional connections in frontal lobe epilepsy: A resting-state fMRI study.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate alterations of basal ganglia-cortical functional connections in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE).
  
  
  
  Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were gathered from 19 FLE patients and 19 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was used to assess the functional connections between basal ganglia and cerebral cortex. Regions of interest, including the left/right caudate, putamen, pallidum and thalamus, were selected as the seeds. Two sample t-test was used to determine the difference between patients and controls, while controlling the age, gender and head motions.
  
  
  
  Compared with controls, FLE patients demonstrated increased FCs between basal ganglia and regions including the right fusiform gyrus, the bilateral cingulate gyrus, the precuneus and anterior cingulate gyrus. Reduced FCs were mainly located in a range of brain regions including the bilateral middle occipital gyrus, the ventral frontal lobe, the right putamen, the left fusiform gyrus and right rolandic operculum. In addition, the relationships between basal ganglia-cingulate connections and durations of epilepsy were also found.
  
  
  
  The alterations of functional integrity within the basal ganglia, as well as its connections to limbic and ventral frontal areas, indicate the important roles of the basal ganglia-cortical functional connections in FLE, and provide new insights in the pathophysiological mechanism of FLE.
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Dong
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
authors: Pu
authors: P
authors: Wang
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
authors: Rui
authors: R
authors: Peng
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
authors: Sisi
authors: S
authors: Jiang
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
authors: Benjamin
authors: B
authors: Klugah-Brown
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: chengluo@uestc.edu.cn.
authors: Cheng
authors: C
authors: Luo
authors: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in Medicine, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
authors: Dezhong
authors: D
authors: Yao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017034:Epilepsy, Frontal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D012146:Rest; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Basal ganglia-cortical connections; Frontal lobe epilepsy; Functional connectivity; Resting-state; fMRI