Reshaped functional connectivity gradients in acute ischemic stroke

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of acute ischemic stroke on brain functional organization and evaluates the influence of temporal lag correction on connectivity gradients. Ischemic stroke disrupts blood flow, leading to functional and structural changes associated with behavioral deficits. We investigated stroke-related functional differences via gradients approach, which is useful to examine the macroscale functional organization of the brain. We identified significant functional deviations primarily within somatomotor, visual, and ventral attention networks, correlating with behavioral impairments. These deviations are more pronounced in regions proximal to the lesion, particularly within the right hemisphere, suggesting its heightened vulnerability. Additionally, we observed negative correlations between functional deviation and left motor, spatial memory, and visual bias performance. Temporal lag correction significantly alters gradient values, particularly along the superior-inferior axis, enhancing alignment with the temporal domain. Stroke subjects benefit notably from this correction, with pronounced differences observed in the visual-somatomotor gradient. Overall, this study underscores the utility of connectivity gradients in delineating stroke-related functional alterations and highlights the importance of temporal lag correction in gradient calculation.