title: Abnormal structural connectivity between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex in patients with disorders of consciousness.
abstract: Consciousness loss in patients with severe brain injuries is associated with reduced functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN), fronto-parietal network, and thalamo-cortical network. However, it is still unclear if the brain white matter connectivity between the above mentioned networks is changed in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). In this study, we collected diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data from 13 patients and 17 healthy controls, constructed whole-brain white matter (WM) structural networks with probabilistic tractography. Afterward, we estimated and compared topological properties, and revealed an altered structural organization in the patients. We found a disturbance in the normal balance between segregation and integration in brain structural networks and detected significantly decreased nodal centralities primarily in the basal ganglia and thalamus in the patients. A network-based statistical analysis detected a subnetwork with uniformly significantly decreased structural connections between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex in the patients. Further analysis indicated that along the WM fiber tracts linking the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex, the fractional anisotropy was decreased and the radial diffusivity was increased in the patients compared to the controls. Finally, using the receiver operating characteristic method, we found that the structural connections within the NBS-derived component that showed differences between the groups demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity (>90%). Our results suggested that major consciousness deficits in DOC patients may be related to the altered WM connections between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Institute of Brain Science and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiuyou
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Institute of Brain Science and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
authors.forename: Ruibin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, PR China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Institute of Brain Science and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China.
authors.forename: Junjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Institute of Brain Science and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, PR China.
authors.forename: Yanbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Institute of Brain Science and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China.
authors.forename: Changhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Institute of Brain Science and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurorehabilitation, Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou 510010, PR China. Electronic address: gesund@21cn.com.
authors.forename: Ronghao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Applied Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Institute of Brain Science and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China. Electronic address: ruiwang.huang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ruiwang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D003244:Consciousness Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D013788:Thalamus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network; Fractional anisotropy; Fronto-parietal network; Head motion; Network-based statistic