Resting-State fMRI Functional Connectivity Alterations in Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Compared to Well-Controlled Epilepsy and Healthy Controls

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Epilepsy is a chronic brain disease characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. It affects roughly 50 million people worldwide and around one third of the patients have drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). The current study aimed to find differences in the whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) in patients with DRE compared to patients with well-controlled epilepsy (WCE) and healthy controls (HCs). Methods: This explorative, cross-sectional study included 92 participants (nDRE = 30; nWCE = 30; nHC = 32) who underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The CONN Toolbox was used to process and analyze the FC changes among the three groups. Results: There was a statistically significant increase of the FC between the left lateral prefrontal cortex, left inferior temporal gyrus (temporo-occipital), left lobules IV and V of the cerebellum and multiple cortical and subcortical structures in patients with DRE as opposed to WCE and HC. On the other hand, decreased FC was observed between three seeds (the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus cortex, the right planum polare) and different frontal, temporal and occipital regions. Interestingly, the right nucleus accumbens (r_NAc) showed increased FC with the inferior frontal gyrus in DRE compared to WCE, whereas the r_NAc-left precentral gyrus FC was reduced in DRE as opposed to HC. Conclusions: The acquired information offers valuable insights into the neuronal networks associated with DRE. These data could be used for advancing diagnostic accuracy and future therapeutic strategies.