Alterations in the default mode network in rolandic epilepsy with mild spike-wave index in non-rapid eye movement sleep

Abstract

PurposeRolandic epilepsy (RE) is one of the most common epilepsy syndromes during childhood. The aim of this study was to investigate the alterations in the default mode network (DMN) of RE patients whose spike-wave index (SWI) was within the 50–85% range during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) during sleep, as well as to detect early neuroimaging markers.MethodsResting-state data was recorded for each subject using magnetoencephalography (MEG). DMN-related brain regions were chosen as regions of interest. The spectral power and functional connectivity (FC) of the DMN were estimated through the use of minimum norm estimation (MNE) combined with Welch technique and corrected amplitude envelope correlation (AEC-c).ResultsThe patient group included 20 patients with NREM phase 50% ≤ SWI < 85% (mild SWI group), and 18 typical RE patients (SWI < 50% group). At the regional level, the mild SWI group exhibited enhanced spectral power in the delta band of the bilateral posterial cingulate cortex and attenuated the spectral power in the alpha band of the bilateral posterial cingulate cortex. Enhanced spectral power in the bilateral precuneus (PCu) in the delta band and attenuated spectral power in the right lateral temporal cortex (LTC) in the alpha band were common across all RE patients. At the FC level, patients in the mild SWI group indicated increased AEC-c values between the bilateral posterial cingulate cortex in the delta band and between the left medial frontal cortex (MFC) and bilateral posterial cingulate cortex in the alpha band. Increased AEC-c values between the right PCu and left MFC in the delta band, and between the left PCu and right MFC in the theta band, were common across all RE patients. Moreover, the spectral power in the bilateral posterial cingulate cortex in the alpha band and the AEC-c value between the bilateral posterial cingulate cortex in the delta band demonstrated good discrimination ability.ConclusionThe spectral power of the bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the alpha band and the AEC-c value between the bilateral PCC in the delta band may be promising indicators of early differentiation between mild SWI and typical RE.

Alternations of neuromagnetic activity across neurocognitive core networks among benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes: A multi-frequency MEG study

“…The changes in DMN mainly focus on the PCC/precuneus region and parietal cortex (Xiao et al, 2016) in children with BECTS. Besides, Li et al (2022) found an enhancement of spectral power intensity within the PCC region in the delta band and a decrease of spectral power in the alpha band while studying the whole brain power spectrum of BECTS with mild SWI. The dominant rhythm of healthy people awake and with their eyes closed are alpha rhythm.…”

“…The method is capable of detecting simultaneously distributed current sources scattered along the entire cortical surface and observing source-based dynamic current strength, offering great spatial accuracy through depth weighting. Several previous studies have demonstrated that the MNE method is stable (Kanamori et al, 2013;Li et al, 2022). Then, we used a multiple overlapping spheres model during the calculation to make a forward solution come true.…”