TY - JOUR
T1 - Cortical thickness in default mode network hubs correlates with clinical features of dissociative seizures
AU - Zelinski, Lada
AU - Diez, Ibai
AU - Perez, David L.
AU - Kotz, Sonja A.
AU - Wellmer, Jörg
AU - Schlegel, Uwe
AU - Popkirov, Stoyan
AU - Jungilligens, Johannes
N1 - Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - BACKGROUND: Dissociative seizures (DS) are a common subtype of functional neurological disorder (FND) with an incompletely understood pathophysiology. Here, gray matter variations and their relationship to clinical features were investigated.METHODS: Forty-eight patients with DS without neurological comorbidities and 43 matched clinical control patients with syncope with structural brain MRIs were identified retrospectively. FreeSurfer-based cortical thickness and FSL FIRST-based subcortical volumes were used for quantitative analyses, and all findings were age and sex adjusted, and corrected for multiple comparisons.RESULTS: Groups were not statistically different in cortical thickness or subcortical volumes. For patients with DS, illness duration was inversely correlated with cortical thickness of left-sided anterior and posterior cortical midline structures (perigenual/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, superior parietal cortex, precuneus), and clusters at the left temporoparietal junction (supramarginal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, superior temporal gyrus), left postcentral gyrus, and right pericalcarine cortex. Dissociative seizure duration was inversely correlated with cortical thickness in the left perigenual anterior cingulate cortex, superior/middle frontal gyri, precentral gyrus and lateral occipital cortex, along with the right isthmus-cingulate and posterior-cingulate, middle temporal gyrus, and precuneus. Seizure frequency did not show any significant correlations.CONCLUSIONS: In patients with DS, illness duration inversely correlated with cortical thickness of left-sided default mode network cortical hubs, while seizure duration correlated with left frontopolar and right posteromedial areas, among others. Etiological factors contributing to neuroanatomical variations in areas related to self-referential processing in patients with DS require more research inquiry.
AB - BACKGROUND: Dissociative seizures (DS) are a common subtype of functional neurological disorder (FND) with an incompletely understood pathophysiology. Here, gray matter variations and their relationship to clinical features were investigated.METHODS: Forty-eight patients with DS without neurological comorbidities and 43 matched clinical control patients with syncope with structural brain MRIs were identified retrospectively. FreeSurfer-based cortical thickness and FSL FIRST-based subcortical volumes were used for quantitative analyses, and all findings were age and sex adjusted, and corrected for multiple comparisons.RESULTS: Groups were not statistically different in cortical thickness or subcortical volumes. For patients with DS, illness duration was inversely correlated with cortical thickness of left-sided anterior and posterior cortical midline structures (perigenual/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, superior parietal cortex, precuneus), and clusters at the left temporoparietal junction (supramarginal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, superior temporal gyrus), left postcentral gyrus, and right pericalcarine cortex. Dissociative seizure duration was inversely correlated with cortical thickness in the left perigenual anterior cingulate cortex, superior/middle frontal gyri, precentral gyrus and lateral occipital cortex, along with the right isthmus-cingulate and posterior-cingulate, middle temporal gyrus, and precuneus. Seizure frequency did not show any significant correlations.CONCLUSIONS: In patients with DS, illness duration inversely correlated with cortical thickness of left-sided default mode network cortical hubs, while seizure duration correlated with left frontopolar and right posteromedial areas, among others. Etiological factors contributing to neuroanatomical variations in areas related to self-referential processing in patients with DS require more research inquiry.
KW - Cortical thickness
KW - Default mode network
KW - Dissociative seizures
KW - Functional neurological disorder
KW - MRI
KW - PSYCHOGENIC NONEPILEPTIC SEIZURES
U2 - 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108605
DO - 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108605
M3 - Article
C2 - 35152170
SN - 1525-5050
VL - 128
JO - Epilepsy & Behavior
JF - Epilepsy & Behavior
M1 - 108605
ER -