Anxiety and depression symptoms disrupt resting state connectivity in patients with genetic generalized epilepsies

Abstract

Summary Objective To analyze the lifetime trajectories in genetic generalized epilepsies (GGEs) and investigate the impact of symptoms of anxiety and depression on resting state functional connectivity (FC). Methods Seventy‐four GGE patients were classified according to the pharmacological response as seizure‐free (12 patients), pharmacoresistant (PhR; 14 patients), and fluctuating (FL; 48 patients). Fifty‐four subjects completed both the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and 38 also underwent 3‐T resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging. These 38 patients were subdivided into a positive group (13 patients with concurrent symptoms of depression and anxiety) and a negative group (21 asymptomatic patients and four with mild anxiety or depression symptoms). For FC analysis of resting state networks, we matched 38 healthy asymptomatic volunteers and used the UF2C toolbox running on MATLAB2017/SPM12. Results The PhR group presented shorter duration of epilepsy (P = 0.016) and follow‐up (P < 0.001) compared to the FL group. The PhR group showed higher levels (median = 20) on the BAI and BDI. Myoclonic seizures were the most difficult to control, as 50% of subjects persisted with them at last appointment, compared to generalized tonic–clonic seizures and absence seizures (<40%). Patients with concurrent anxiety and depression symptoms were 7.7 times more likely to exhibit pharmacoresistant seizures, although an increase of 1 year of epilepsy duration was associated with a decrease in the odds of presenting pharmacoresistance by a factor of 0.9. Overall, FC was altered between default mode network (DMN) and visuospatial/dorsal attention. However, only the positive group displayed abnormal FC between DMN and left executive control network, and between salience and visuospatial/dorsal attention. Significance Our findings may help clinicians to have a better understanding of GGE clinical course and increase attention to the potential relationship of psychopathologies and brain connectivity.

Functional and microstructural brain abnormalities, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction after mild COVID-19

“…We acquired all images (patients and controls) in a 3T Philips Achieva scanner using the same protocols: i) structural 3D T1-weighted images with isotropic voxel (1×1×1 mm 3 ), acquired in the sagittal plane with 180 slices, TE = 3.2 ms, TR = 7 ms, matrix = 240×240, flip angle = 8 and FOV = 240×240mm2) ii) Resting-state: echo planar functional images with isotropic voxel (3×3×3 mm 3 ), acquired on the axial plane with 40 slices, no gap, matrix of 80×80, flip angle = 90°, FOV = 240×240mm 2 , TR=2s, TE=30ms and 180 dynamics, resulting in a six minutes scan; iii) DTI was acquired with a single-shot EPI technique (voxel size = 2×2×2 mm 3 , 32 gradient directions, max b-factor = 1000 s/mm 2 , FOV = 256×256 mm 2 )(Garcia et al, 2019; Hatton et al, 2020). Additional details of MRI protocol acquisitions for post-COVID individuals are presented in the supplementary file.…”

Morphological, cellular and molecular basis of brain infection in COVID-19 patients

“…and FOV = 240x240 mm2) 24,25 . We performed imaging analysis with the CAT12 toolbox ( http://www.neuro.uni-jena.de/cat/ , version r1711) within SPM12…”

“…In terms of depression, subjects were categorized with mild (BDI [14][15][16][17][18][19], moderate (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35) and severe (36-63) symptoms. Anxiety symptoms were considered mild (BAI [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], moderate (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) and severe . We evaluated verbal memory (immediate and delayed episodic memory) using the Logical Memory subtest from the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-R) 26 , in which the examiner verbally presents two stories, and each story includes 25 pertinent pieces of information.…”

SARS-CoV-2 infects brain astrocytes of COVID-19 patients and impairs neuronal viability

“…We performed neuropsychological evaluations of sixty-one of these patients. They were tested for symptoms of anxiety using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and symptoms of depression using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) 42 . Symptoms of anxiety were confirmed for those with a BAI higher than 10 points, and depression symptoms defined for those with minimum of 14 points on the BDI.…”