Structural and functional asymmetry of medial temporal subregions in unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy: A 7T MRI study

Preya Shah, Danielle S Bassett, Laura E M Wisse, John A Detre, Joel M Stein, Paul A Yushkevich, Russell T Shinohara, Mark A Elliott, Sandhitsu R Das, Kathryn A Davis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a common neurological disorder affecting the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe (MTL). Although prior studies have analyzed whole-brain network distortions in TLE patients, the functional network architecture of the MTL at the subregion level has not been examined. In this study, we utilized high-resolution 7T T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting-state BOLD-fMRI to characterize volumetric asymmetry and functional network asymmetry of MTL subregions in unilateral medically refractory TLE patients and healthy controls. We subdivided the TLE group into mesial temporal sclerosis patients (TLE-MTS) and MRI-negative nonlesional patients (TLE-NL). Using an automated multi-atlas segmentation pipeline, we delineated 10 MTL subregions per hemisphere for each subject. We found significantly different patterns of volumetric asymmetry between the two groups, with TLE-MTS exhibiting volumetric asymmetry corresponding to decreased volumes ipsilaterally in all hippocampal subfields, and TLE-NL exhibiting no significant volumetric asymmetries other than a mild decrease in whole-hippocampal volume ipsilaterally. We also found significantly different patterns of functional network asymmetry in the CA1 subfield and whole hippocampus, with TLE-NL patients exhibiting asymmetry corresponding to increased connectivity ipsilaterally and TLE-MTS patients exhibiting asymmetry corresponding to decreased connectivity ipsilaterally. Our findings provide initial evidence that functional neuroimaging-based network properties within the MTL can distinguish between TLE subtypes. High-resolution MRI has potential to improve localization of underlying brain network disruptions in TLE patients who are candidates for surgical resection.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2390-2398
JournalHuman Brain Mapping
Volume40
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019 Jun 1
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Neurology

Free keywords

  • Adult
  • CA1 Region, Hippocampal/diagnostic imaging
  • Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/diagnostic imaging
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality/physiology
  • Functional Neuroimaging/methods
  • Hippocampus/diagnostic imaging
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging
  • Sclerosis/pathology
  • Temporal Lobe/diagnostic imaging

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