Absence seizures are 5-10 s episodes of impaired consciousness accompanied by 3-4 Hz generalized spike-and-wave discharge on electroencephalography (EEG). The time course of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) changes in absence seizures in relation to EEG and behavior is not known. We acquired simultaneous EEG-fMRI in 88 typical childhood absence seizures from nine pediatric patients. We investigated behavior concurrently using a continuous performance task or simpler repetitive tapping task. EEG timefrequency analysis revealed abrupt onset and end of 3-4 Hz spike-wave discharges with a mean duration of 6.6 s. Behavioral analysis also showed rapid onset and end of deficits associated with electrographic seizure start and end. In contrast, we observed small early fMRI increases in the orbital/medial frontal and medial/lateral parietal cortex Ͼ5 s before seizure onset, followed by profound fMRI decreases continuing Ͼ20 s after seizure end. This time course differed markedly from the hemodynamic response function (HRF) model used in conventional fMRI analysis, consisting of large increases beginning after electrical event onset, followed by small fMRI decreases. Other regions, such as the lateral frontal cortex, showed more balanced fMRI increases followed by approximately equal decreases. The thalamus showed delayed increases after seizure onset followed by small decreases, most closely resembling the HRF model. These findings reveal a complex and long-lasting sequence of fMRI changes in absence seizures, which are not detectable by conventional HRF modeling in many regions. These results may be important mechanistically for seizure initiation and termination and may also contribute to changes in EEG and behavior.
Normal human consciousness may be impaired by two possible routes: direct reduced function in widespread cortical regions or indirect disruption of subcortical activating systems. The route through which temporal lobe limbic seizures impair consciousness is not known. We recently developed an animal model that, like human limbic seizures, exhibits neocortical deactivation including cortical slow waves and reduced cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF). We now find through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that electrically stimulated hippocampal seizures in rats cause increased activity in subcortical structures including the septal area and mediodorsal thalamus, along with reduced activity in frontal, cingulate, and retrosplenial cortex. Direct recordings from the hippocampus, septum, and medial thalamus demonstrated fast poly-spike activity associated with increased neuronal firing and CBF, whereas frontal cortex showed slow oscillations with decreased neuronal firing and CBF. Stimulation of septal area, but not hippocampus or medial thalamus, in the absence of a seizure resulted in cortical deactivation with slow oscillations and behavioral arrest, resembling changes seen during limbic seizures. Transecting the fornix, the major route from hippocampus to subcortical structures, abolished the negative cortical and behavioral effects of seizures. Cortical slow oscillations and behavioral arrest could be reconstituted in fornix-lesioned animals by inducing synchronous activity in the hippocampus and septal area, implying involvement of a downstream region converged on by both structures. These findings suggest that limbic seizures may cause neocortical deactivation indirectly, through impaired subcortical function. If confirmed, subcortical networks may represent a target for therapies aimed at preserving consciousness in human temporal lobe seizures.
The relationship between neuronal activity and hemodynamic changes plays a central role in functional neuroimaging. Under normal conditions and in neurological disorders such as epilepsy it is commonly assumed that increased functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals reflect increased neuronal activity, and that fMRI decreases represent neuronal activity decreases. Recent work suggests these assumptions usually hold true in the cerebral cortex. However, less is known about the basis of fMRI signals from subcortical structures such as the thalamus and basal ganglia. We used Wistar Albino Glaxo rats of Rijswijk (WAG/Rij), an established animal model of human absence epilepsy, to perform fMRI studies with blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) and cerebral blood volume (CBV) contrasts at 9.4 Tesla; as well as laser Doppler cerebral blood flow (CBF), local field potential (LFP), and multiunit activity (MUA) recordings. We found that during spike-wave discharges, the somatosensory cortex and thalamus showed increased fMRI, CBV, CBF, LFP and MUA signals. However, the caudate-putamen showed fMRI, CBV and CBF decreases despite increases in LFP and MUA signals. Similarly, during normal whisker stimulation the cortex and thalamus showed increases in CBF and MUA, while the caudate-putamen showed decreased CBF with increased MUA. These findings suggest that neuroimaging-related signals and electrophysiology tend to agree in the cortex and thalamus, but disagree in the caudate-putamen. These opposite changes in vascular and electrical activity indicate that caution should be applied when interpreting fMRI signals in both health and disease from the caudate-putamen, as well as possibly from other subcortical structures.
Objective Absence epilepsy is a common seizure disorder in children which can produce chronic psychosocial sequelae. Human patients and rat absence models show bilateral spike-wave discharges (SWD) in cortical regions. We employed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in rat absence models to detect abnormalities in white matter pathways connecting regions of seizure activity. Methods We studied Wistar albino Glaxo rats of Rijswijk (WAG/Rij), genetic absence epilepsy rats of Strasbourg (GAERS), and corresponding nonepileptic control strains. Ex vivo DTI was performed at 9.4T with diffusion gradients applied in 16 orientations. We compared fractional anisotropy (FA), perpendicular (λ⊥) and parallel (λ∥) diffusivity between groups using t-maps and region of interest (ROI) measurements. Results Adult epileptic WAG/Rij rats exhibited a localized decrease in FA in the anterior corpus callosum. This area was confirmed by tractography to interconnect somatosensory cortex regions most intensely involved in seizures. This FA decrease was not present in young WAG/Rij rats before onset of SWD. GAERS, which have more severe SWD than WAG/Rij, exhibited even more pronounced callosal FA decreases. Reduced FA in the epileptic animals originated from an increased λ⊥ with no significant changes in λ∥. Interpretation Reduced FA with increased λ⊥ suggests that chronic seizures cause reduction in myelin or decreased axon fiber density in white matter pathways connecting regions of seizure activity. These DTI abnormalities may improve the understanding of chronic neurological difficulties in children suffering with absence epilepsy, and may also serve as a noninvasive biomarker for monitoring beneficial effects of treatment.
Purpose:To study differences in the whole-brain structural connectomes of patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and healthy control subjects. Materials and Methods:This study was approved by the institutional review board, and all individuals gave signed informed consent. Sixtydirection diffusion-tensor imaging and magnetizationprepared rapid acquisition gradient-echo (MP-RAGE) magnetic resonance imaging volumes were analyzed in 24 patients with left TLE and in 24 healthy control subjects. MP-RAGE volumes were segmented into 1015 regions of interest (ROIs) spanning the entire brain. Deterministic white matter tractography was performed after voxelwise tensor calculation. Weighted structural connectivity matrices were generated by using the pairwise density of connecting fibers between ROIs. Graph theoretical measures of connectivity networks were compared between groups by using linear models with permutation testing. Results:Patients with TLE had 22%-45% reduced (P , .01) distant connectivity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, temporal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus, compared with that in healthy subjects. However, local connectivity, as measured by means of network efficiency, was increased by 85%-270% (P , .01) in the medial and lateral frontal cortices, insular cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and occipital cortex in patients with TLE as compared with healthy subjects. Conclusion:This study suggests that TLE involves altered structural connectivity in a network that reaches beyond the temporal lobe, especially in the default mode network.q RSNA, 2013
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