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Guye, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Guye, M..

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Higher-order interdependencies of the epileptogenic network in presurgical resting-state fMRI

Drug-resistant focal epilepsy (DRFE) is understood as a complex brain network disorder. As a result, conventional pair-wise functional connectivity may fail to capture the higher-order interactions between groups of epileptogenic regions. We applied multivariate information theory to stereotactic electroencephalography-defined networks in retrospective resting-state fMRI analysis to determine whether the overall strength and dominant type of interdependencies between three or more regions, represented by the S-information and O-information respectively, could offer clinically relevant insights prior to surgical intervention in DRFE. We found networks involving the epileptogenic zone to be mostly dominated by re-dundant information-sharing, which was predicted by stronger structural and functional connections between regions. Non-temporal lobe epilepsy patients demonstrated greater redundancy and stronger comparative interdependencies than temporal lobe epilepsy patients, in line with a more complex network architecture. Among non-temporal lobe cases with postoperative follow-up, not seizure-free patients displayed more positive O-information deviation scores than seizure-free patients, suggesting elevated redundancy in networks associated with poorer surgical outcomes. Our findings potentiate the S-information and O-information as complementary higher-order descriptors of the epileptogenic network within personalised presurgical assessments.

neuroscience↗

Mapping the topographic organization of the human zona incerta using diffusion MRI

The zona incerta (ZI) is a deep brain region originally described by Auguste Forel as an "immensely confusing area about which nothing can be said." Despite the elusive nature of this structure, mounting evidence supports the role of the ZI and surrounding regions across a diverse range of brain functions and as a candidate target for neuromodulatory therapies. Using in vivo diffusion MRI and data-driven connectivity, we identify a topographic organization between the ZI and neocortex. Specifically, our methods identify a rostral-caudal gradient predominantly connecting the frontopolar and ventral prefrontal cortices with the rostral ZI, and the primary sensorimotor cortices with the caudal ZI. Moreover, we demonstrate how clustering and gradient approaches build complementary evidence including facilitating the mapping of a central region of the ZI, connected with the dorsal prefrontal cortex. These results were shown to be replicable across multiple datasets and at the individual subject level, building evidence for the important role of the ZI in mediating frontal lobe-associated tasks, ranging from motor to cognitive to emotional control. Finally, we consider the impact of this topographic organization on the refinement of neuromodulatory targets. These results pave the way for an increasingly detailed understanding of ZI substructures, and considerations for in vivo targeting of the ZI for neuromodulation.

neuroscience↗

Brain Connectivity Correlates of Breathing and Cardiac Irregularities in SUDEP: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the leading cause of premature mortality among people with epilepsy. Evidence from witnessed and monitored SUDEP cases indicate seizure-induced cardiovascular and respiratory failures; yet, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. SUDEP occurs often during the night and early morning hours, suggesting that sleep or circadian rhythm-induced changes in physiology contribute to the fatal event. Resting-state fMRI studies have found altered functional connectivity between brain structures involved in cardiorespiratory regulation in later SUDEP cases and in individuals at high-risk of SUDEP. However, those connectivity findings have not been related to changes in cardiovascular or respiratory patterns. Here, we compared fMRI patterns of brain connectivity associated with regular and irregular cardiorespiratory rhythms in SUDEP cases with those of living epilepsy patients of varying SUDEP risk, and healthy controls. We analysed resting-state fMRI data from 98 patients with epilepsy (9 who subsequently succumbed to SUDEP, 43 categorized as low SUDEP risk (no tonic-clonic seizures (TCS) in the year preceding the fMRI scan), and 46 as high SUDEP risk (>3 TCS in the year preceding the scan)) and 25 healthy controls. The global signal amplitude (GSA), defined as the moving standard deviation of the fMRI global signal, was used to identify periods with regular ( low state) and irregular ( high state) cardiorespiratory rhythms. Correlation maps were derived from seeds in twelve regions with a key role in autonomic or respiratory regulation, for the low and high states. Following principal component analysis, component weights were compared between the groups. We found widespread alterations in connectivity of precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex in epilepsy compared to controls, in the low state (regular cardiorespiratory activity). In the low state, and to a lesser degree in the high state, reduced anterior insula connectivity (mainly with anterior and posterior cingulate cortex) in epilepsy appeared, relative to healthy controls. For SUDEP cases, the insula connectivity differences were inversely related to the interval between the fMRI scan and death. The findings suggest that anterior insula connectivity measures may provide a biomarker of SUDEP risk. The neural correlates of autonomic brain structures associated with different cardiorespiratory rhythms may shed light on the mechanisms underlying terminal apnea observed in SUDEP.

neuroscience↗

Multi-scale structural alterations of basal ganglia in focal epilepsy as demonstrated by 7T MRI

Focal epilepsy is characterized by repeated spontaneous seizures that originate from cortical epileptogenic zone networks (EZN). More recently, analysis of intracerebral recordings showed that subcortical structures, and in particular the thalamus, play an important role in facilitating and/or propagating epileptic activity. This supports previously reported structural alterations of these structures. Nonetheless, between-patient differences in EZN (e.g., temporal vs. non-temporal lobe epilepsy) as well as other clinical features (e.g., number of epileptogenic regions) might impact the magnitude as well as spatial distribution of subcortical structural changes. Here we used 7 Tesla MRI T1 data to provide a comprehensive description of subcortical morphological (volume, tissue deformation, and shape) and longitudinal relaxation (T1) changes in focal epilepsy patients to evaluate the impact of the EZN and patient-specific clinical features. Our results showed widespread morphometric and T1 changes. Focusing on the thalamus, atrophy varied across nuclei but appeared most prominent for the TLE group and the ipsilateral side, while shortening of T1 was observed for the lateral thalamus, in particular. Multivariate analyses across thalamic nuclei and basal ganglia showed that volume acted as the dominant discriminator between patients and controls, while (posterolateral) thalamic T1 measures looked promising to further differentiate patients based on EZN. In particular, the observed differences in T1 changes between thalamic nuclei indicated differential involvement of thalamic nuclei based on EZN. Finally, the number of epileptogenic regions was found to best explain the observed variability between patients. To conclude, this work revealed multi-scale subcortical alterations in focal epilepsy as well as their dependence on several clinical characteristics. Our results provide a basis for further, in-depth investigations using (quantitative) MRI and SEEG data and warrant further personalization of intervention strategies, such as deep brain stimulation, for treating focal epilepsy patients.

neuroscience↗

Human concurrent intracranial EEG and fMRI reveals multiple temporally independent but spatially similar connectome trajectories across timescales

Complex brain function comprises a multitude of neural operations in parallel and often at different speeds. Each of these operations is carried out across a network of distributed brain regions. How multiple distributed processes are facilitated in parallel is largely unknown. We postulate that such processing relies on a multiplex of dynamic network patterns emerging in parallel but from different functional connectivity (FC) timescales. Given the dominance of inherently slow fMRI in network science, it is unknown whether the brain leverages such multi-timescale network dynamics. We studied FC dynamics concurrently across a breadth of timescales (from infraslow to {gamma}-range) in rare, simultaneously recorded intracranial EEG and fMRI in humans, and source-localized scalp EEG-fMRI data. We examined spatial and temporal convergence of connectome trajectories across timescales. Spatial convergence refers to spatially similar EEG and fMRI connectome patterns, while temporal convergence signifies the more specific case of spatial convergence at corresponding timepoints in EEG and fMRI. We observed spatial convergence but temporal divergence across FC timescales; connectome states (recurrent FC patterns) with partial spatial similarity were found in fMRI and all EEG frequency bands, but these occurred asynchronously across FC timescales. Our findings suggest that hemodynamic and frequency-specific electrophysiological signals, while involving similar large-scale networks, represent functionally distinct connectome trajectories that operate at different FC speeds and in parallel. This multiplex is poised to enable concurrent connectivity across multiple sets of brain regions independently.

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Patient-specific network connectivitycombined with a next generation neural massmodel to test clinical hypothesis of seizurepropagation

Dynamics underlying epileptic seizures span multiple scales in space and time, therefore, understanding seizure mechanisms requires identifying the relations between seizure components within and across these scales, together with the analysis of their dynamical repertoire. In this view, mathematical models have been developed, ranging from single neuron to neural population. In this study we consider a neural mass model able to exactly reproduce the dynamics of heterogeneous spiking neural networks. We combine the mathematical modelling with structural information from non-invasive brain imaging, thus building large-scale brain network models to explore emergent dynamics and test clinical hypothesis. We provide a comprehensive study on the effect of external drives on neuronal networks exhibiting multistability, in order to investigate the role played by the neuroanatomical connectivity matrices in shaping the emergent dynamics. In particular we systematically investigate the conditions under which the network displays a transition from a low activity regime to a high activity state, which we identify with a seizure-like event. This approach allows us to study the biophysical parameters and variables leading to multiple recruitment events at the network level. We further exploit topological network measures in order to explain the differences and the analogies among the subjects and their brain regions, in showing recruitment events at different parameter values. We demonstrate, along the example of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) connectomes of 20 healthy subjects and 15 epileptic patients, that individual variations in structural connectivity, when linked with mathematical dynamic models, have the capacity to explain changes in spatiotemporal organization of brain dynamics, as observed in network-based brain disorders. In particular, for epileptic patients, by means of the integration of the clinical hypotheses on the epileptogenic zone (EZ), i.e. the local network where highly synchronous seizures originate, we have identified the sequence of recruitment events and discussed their links with the topological properties of the specific connectomes. The predictions made on the basis of the implemented set of exact mean-field equations turn out to be in line with the clinical pre-surgical evaluation on recruited secondary networks.

neuroscience↗

Computational modeling of seizure spread on a cortical surface

In the field of computational epilepsy, neural field models helped to understand some large-scale features of seizure dynamics. These insights however remain on general levels, without translation to the clinical settings via personalization of the model with the patient-specific structure. In particular, a link was suggested between epileptic seizures spreading across the cortical surface and the so-called theta-alpha activity (TAA) pattern seen on intracranial electrographic signals, yet this link was not demonstrated on a patient-specific level. Here we present a single patient computational study linking the seizure spreading across the patient-specific cortical surface with a specific instance of the TAA pattern recorded in the patient. Using the realistic geometry of the cortical surface we perform the simulations of seizure dynamics in The Virtual Brain platform, and we show that the simulated electrographic signals qualitatively agree with the recorded signals. Furthermore, the comparison with the simulations performed on surrogate surfaces reveals that the best quantitative fit is obtained for the real surface. The work illustrates how the patient-specific cortical geometry can be utilized in The Virtual Brain for personalized model building, and the importance of such approach.

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A Motion Correction Strategy for Multi-Contrast based 3D parametric imaging: Application to Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT)

PurposeTo propose an efficient retrospective image-based method for motion correction of multi-contrast acquisitions with a low number of available images (MC-MoCo) and evaluate its use in 3D inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT) experiments in the human brain. MethodsA framework for motion correction, including image pre-processing enhancement and rigid registration to an iteratively improved target image, was developed. The proposed method was compared to Motion Correction with FMRIBs Linear Image Registration Tool (MCFLIRT) function in FSL over 13 subjects. Native (pre-correction) and residual (post-correction) motions were evaluated by means of markers positioned at well-defined anatomical regions over each image. ResultsBoth motion correction strategies significantly reduced inter-image misalignment, and the MC-MoCo method yielded significantly better results than MCFLIRT. ConclusionMC-MoCo is a high-performance method for motion correction of multi-contrast volumes as in 3D ihMT imaging.

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Evidence for spreading seizure as a cause of theta-alpha activity electrographic pattern in stereo-EEG seizure recordings

Intracranial electroencephalography is a standard tool in clinical evaluation of patients with focal epilepsy. Various early electrographic seizure patterns differing in frequency, amplitude, and waveform of the oscillations are observed. The pattern most common in the areas of seizure propagation is the so-called theta-alpha activity (TAA), whose defining features are oscillations in the{theta} - range and gradually increasing amplitude. A deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying the generation of the TAA pattern is however lacking. In this work we evaluate the hypothesis that the TAA patterns are caused by seizures spreading across the cortex. To do so, we perform simulations of seizure dynamics on detailed patient-derived cortical surfaces using the spreading seizure model as well as reference models with one or two homogeneous sources. We then detect the occurrences of the TAA patterns both in the simulated stereo-electroencephalographic signals and in the signals of recorded epileptic seizures from a cohort of fifty patients, and we compare the features of the groups of detected TAA patterns to assess the plausibility of the different models. Our results show that spreading seizure hypothesis is qualitatively consistent with the evidence available in the seizure recordings, and it can explain the features of the detected TAA groups best among the examined models.

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Modular slowing of resting-state dynamic Functional Connectivity as a marker of cognitive dysfunction induced by sleep deprivation

Dynamic Functional Connectivity (dFC) in the resting state (rs) is considered as a correlate of cognitive processing. Describing dFC as a flow across morphing connectivity configurations, our notion of dFC speed quantifies the rate at which FC networks evolve in time. Here we probe the hypothesis that variations of rs dFC speed and cognitive performance are selectively interrelated within specific functional subnetworks. In particular, we focus on Sleep Deprivation (SD) as a reversible model of cognitive dysfunction. We found that whole-brain level (global) dFC speed significantly slows down after 24h of SD. However, the reduction in global dFC speed does not correlate with variations of cognitive performance in individual tasks, which are subtle and highly heterogeneous. On the contrary, we found strong correlations between performance variations in individual tasks -including Rapid Visual Processing (RVP, assessing sustained visual attention)- and dFC speed quantified at the level of functional subnetworks of interest. Providing a compromise between classic static FC (no time) and global dFC (no space), modular dFC speed analyses allow quantifying a different speed of dFC reconfiguration independently for sub-networks overseeing different tasks. Importantly, we found that RVP performance robustly correlates with the modular dFC speed of a characteristic frontoparietal module. HighlightsO_LISleep Deprivation (SD) slows down the random walk in FC space implemented by Dynamic Functional Connectivity (dFC) at rest. C_LIO_LIWhole-brain level slowing of dFC speed does not selectively correlate with fine and taskspecific changes in performance C_LIO_LIWe quantify dFC speed separately for different link-based modules coordinated by distinct regional "meta-hubs" C_LIO_LIModular dFC speed variations capture subtle and task-specific variations of cognitive performance induced by SD. C_LI Author summaryWe interpreted dynamic Functional Connectivity (dFC) as a random walk in the space of possible FC networks performed with a quantifiable "speed". Here, we analyze a fMRI dataset in which subjects are scanned and cognitively tested both before and after Sleep Deprivation (SD), used as a reversible model of cognitive dysfunction. While global dFC speed slows down after a sleepless night, it is not a sufficiently sensitive metric to correlate with fine and specific cognitive performance changes. To boost the capacity of dFC speed analyses to account for fine and specific cognitive decline, we introduce the notion of modular dFC speed. Capitalizing on an edge-centric measure of functional connectivity, which we call Meta-Connectivity, we isolate subgraphs of FC describing relatively independent random walks (dFC modules) and controlled by distinct "puppet masters" (meta-hubs). We then find that variations of the random walk speed of distinct dFC modules now selectively correlate with SD-induced variations of performance in the different tasks. This is in agreement with the fact that different subsystems - distributed but functionally distinct- oversee different tasks. The high sensitivity of modular dFC analyses bear promise of future applications to the early detection and longitudinal characterization of pathologies such as Alzheimers disease.

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Multi-timescale hybrid components of the functional brain connectome: A bimodal EEG-fMRI decomposition

Concurrent electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) bridge brain connectivity across timescales. During concurrent EEG-fMRI resting-state recordings, whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) strength is spatially correlated across modalities. However, cross-modal investigations have commonly remained correlational, and joint analysis of EEG-fMRI connectivity is largely unexplored. Here we investigated if there exist (spatially) independent FC networks linked between modalities. We applied the recently proposed hybrid connectivity independent component analysis (connICA) framework to two concurrent EEG-fMRI resting state datasets (total 40 subjects). Two robust components were found across both datasets. The first component has a uniformly distributed EEG-frequency fingerprint linked mainly to intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) in both modalities. Conversely, the second component is sensitive to different EEG-frequencies and is primarily linked to intra-ICN connectivity in fMRI but to inter-ICN connectivity in EEG. The first hybrid component suggests that connectivity dynamics within well-known ICNs span timescales, from millisecond-range in all canonical frequencies of FCEEG to second-range of FCfMRI. Conversely, the second component additionally exposes linked but spatially divergent neuronal processing at the two timescales. This work reveals the existence of joint spatially independent components, suggesting that parts of resting-state connectivity are co-expressed in a linked manner across EEG and fMRI over individuals.

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Controlling seizure propagation in large-scale brain networks

Information transmission in the human brain is a fundamentally dynamic network process. In partial epilepsy, this process is perturbed and highly synchronous seizures originate in a local network, the so-called epileptogenic zone (EZ), before recruiting other close or distant brain regions. We studied patient-specific brain network models of 15 drug-resistant epilepsy patients with implanted stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG) electrodes. Each personalized brain model was derived from structural data of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor weighted imaging (DTI), comprising 88 nodes equipped with region specific neural mass models capable of demonstrating a range of epileptiform discharges. Each patients virtual brain was further personalized through the integration of the clinically hypothesized EZ. Subsequent simulations and connectivity modulations were performed and uncovered a finite repertoire of seizure propagation patterns. Across patients, we found that (i) patient-specific network connectivity is predictive for the subsequent seizure propagation pattern; (ii) seizure propagation is characterized by a systematic sequence of brain states; (iii) propagation can be controlled by an optimal intervention on the connectivity matrix; (iv) the degree of invasiveness can be significantly reduced via the proposed seizure control as compared to traditional resective surgery. To stop seizures, neurosurgeons typically resect the EZ completely. We showed that stability analysis of the network dynamics, employing structural and dynamical information, estimates reliably the spatiotemporal properties of seizure propagation. This suggests novel less invasive paradigms of surgical interventions to treat and manage partial epilepsy.\n\nPACS numbers:\n\nI. AUTHOR SUMMARYEpilepsy is characterized by perturbed dynamics that originate in a local network before spreading to other brain regions. We studied patient-specific brain network models of epilepsy patients, comprising 88 nodes equipped with region specific neural mass models capable of demonstrating epileptiform discharges. Applying stability analysis led to a seizure control strategy that is significantly less invasive than the traditional surgery, which typically resects the epileptogenic regions. The invasiveness of the procedure correlates with graph theoretical importance of the nodes. The novel method subsequently removes the most unstable links, a procedure possible by advent of novel surgery techniques. Our approach is entirely based on structural data, allowing creation of a brain model based on purely non-invasive data prior to any surgery.

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