Cognitive deficits and altered functional brain network organization in pediatric brain tumor patients

Seitzman, Benjamin A.; Anandarajah, Hari; Dworetsky, Ally; McMichael, Alana; Coalson, Rebecca S.; Agamah, A. Miriam; Jiang, Catherine; Gu, Hongjie; Barbour, Dennis L.; Schlaggar, Bradley L.; Limbrick, David D.; Rubin, Joshua B.; Shimony, Joshua S.; Perkins, Stephanie M.

doi:10.1007/s11682-023-00798-y

Cited by 5 publications

References 63 publications

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Short-term changes in brain networks and cognition in children with frontal lobe lesions treated solely with neurosurgical procedures

Guan,

Hu,

Zheng

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Intracranial lesions in children often have good prognoses, allowing long-term survival. Cognitive functions, crucial for life quality, need more attention. Previous research has focused on adults, with pediatric studies limited by varied lesions and complex treatments. This study aims to evaluate cognitive and brain network changes in children with frontal lobe lesions, which significantly impact cognitive function, using a before-and-after comparison. The study enrolled 20 children with frontal lesions who underwent fMRI and cognitive tests before and after surgery, with only surgical treatment initially. Brain network changes were evaluated using functional metrics, and cognitive shifts were measured through test scores. Correlations were analyzed to explore brain mechanisms behind cognitive changes. Additionally, 20 healthy children underwent the same assessments for baseline data. Preliminary evidence of cognitive recovery, notably in social cognition, was observed about three months post-surgery, potentially linked to increased functional connectivity between the right lingual gyrus and right middle temporal gyrus. Children with frontal lobe lesions have demonstrated short-term postoperative cognitive improvement and associated reorganization and repair of brain networks, though this capacity for repair may diminish over time. This underscores the importance of timely rehabilitation interventions. This study offers unique insights into cognitive neuroscience and potential rehabilitation targets.

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Short-term changes in brain networks and cognition in children with frontal lobe lesions treated solely with neurosurgical procedures

Guan,

Hu,

Zheng

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Limited Research Investigating the Value of MRI in Predicting Future Cognitive Morbidity in Survivors of Paediatric Brain Tumours: A Call to Action for Clinical Neuroimaging Researchers

Griffiths-King,

Delivett,

Peet

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Survivors of pediatric brain tumour patients are at high risk of cognitive morbidity. There is clinical benefit in being able to reliably predict, at the individual patient level, whether a patient will experience these difficulties or not, the degree of impairment, and the domains affected. Whilst established risk factors exist, quantitative analysis of MRI could provide added predictive value towards this goal, above and beyond existing clinical risk models. The current systematic review aims to answer the question; Do MRI markers predict future cognitive functioning in pediatric brain tumour survivors?. Studies of pediatric brain tumour patients which test the value of MRI variables in predicting later neuropsychological outcomes were searched up to July 2022. Only included were studies where MRI scans were acquired at an earlier timepoint and used to predict a child's performance on cognitive tests at a later timepoint. Surprisingly few studies were identified by the search process which specifically investigated MRI measures of cerebellar and white matter damage as features in predicting cognitive outcomes. However, the important finding of this review is that the current literature is limited and those identified had small sample sizes and were rated as poor quality for the purposes of prediction. Overall, current findings are at high risk of bias and thus the quality and impact of conclusions are limited. Given the significant impact for this clinical population that predictive models would enable, the current review affirms the need for a call-to-action for medical imaging researchers in pediatric neuro-oncology.

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Changes on Cognition and Brain Network Temporal Variability After Pediatric Neurosurgery

Guan,

Hu,

Zheng

et al. 2024

Neurosurgery

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pediatric intracranial space–occupying lesions are common, with prognoses improving markedly in recent years, significantly extending survival. As such, there is an imperative to pay increased attention to the postoperative cognitive functions and brain network alterations in these children because these factors significantly influence their quality of life. Temporal variability (TV) analysis of brain networks captures the full extent of resting-state activities, reflecting cognitive functions and rehabilitation potential. However, previous research rarely uses TV analyses and most focus on adults or children after multidisciplinary treatments, not reflecting the combined effect caused by neurosurgery only and self-repair. This study gives our insights into this field from a holistic perspective. METHODS: We studied 35 children with intracranial space–occupying lesions, analyzing pre- and postsurgery MRI and cognitive tests. We used TV analysis to assess changes and correlated imaging indicators with cognitive performance. RESULTS: We observed a tendency for cognitive recovery after about 3 months postsurgery, primarily in the domains of social cognition and nonverbal reasoning. TV analysis of brain networks indicated increased nodal variability within systems such as the visual and sensorimotor networks, which are integral to external interactions. Correlative analysis showed that alterations in certain occipital regions were associated with changes in social cognition and nonverbal reasoning. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest significant intrinsic repair in cognitive functions and brain networks at around 3 months postneurosurgery in children. This study not only enriches our comprehension of postoperative cognitive and brain network self-repair processes in children but also furnishes potential therapeutic targets for rehabilitation interventions and establishes a theoretical foundation for proactive surgical interventions.

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Cognitive deficits and altered functional brain network organization in pediatric brain tumor patients

Cited by 5 publications

References 63 publications

Short-term changes in brain networks and cognition in children with frontal lobe lesions treated solely with neurosurgical procedures

Short-term changes in brain networks and cognition in children with frontal lobe lesions treated solely with neurosurgical procedures

Limited Research Investigating the Value of MRI in Predicting Future Cognitive Morbidity in Survivors of Paediatric Brain Tumours: A Call to Action for Clinical Neuroimaging Researchers

Changes on Cognition and Brain Network Temporal Variability After Pediatric Neurosurgery

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