Restructuring of contralateral gray matter volume associated with cognition in patients with unilateral temporal lobe glioma before and after surgery

Abstract

Glioma can cause variable alterations to the structure and function of the brain. However, there is a paucity of studies on the gray matter (GM) volume alterations in the brain region opposite the temporal glioma before and after surgery. Therefore, the present study was initiated to investigate the alternation in contralateral homotopic GM volume in patients with unilateral temporal lobe glioma and further, assess the relationship between GM volume alternations with cognition. Eight left temporal lobe glioma patients (LTPs), nine right temporal lobe glioma patients (RTPs), and 28 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs) were included. Using voxel‐based morphometry method, alternations in the contralateral homotopic GM volume in patients with unilateral temporal lobe glioma was determined. Furthermore, the correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between cognitive function and altered GM volume. In the preoperative analysis, compared to HCs, LTPs exhibited increased GM volume in right inferior temporal gyrus and right temporal pole (superior temporal gyrus), and, RTPs presented increased GM volume in left inferior temporal gyrus. In the postoperative analysis, compared to HCs, RTPs presented increased GM volume in left middle temporal gyrus. Furthermore, the increased GM volume was significantly positively correlated with the memory test but negatively correlated with the visuospatial test. This study preliminarily confirmed that there were compensatory changes in the GM volume in the contralateral temporal lobe in unilateral temporal lobe glioma patients. Furthermore, alterations of GM volume may be a mechanism for cognitive function compensation.

Contralesional functional network reorganization of the insular cortex in diffuse low-grade glioma patients

“…Since, the glioma is commonly thought to disrupt functional networks and decrease FC 25 , 32 , 33 . Hence, the increasing FC implied that network reorganization occurred similar to what other studies have shown 3 , 10 , 19 , 20 . No significant sensorimotor and abnormal mental status were found in our patients.…”

“…In this study, we investigated the alterations of functional networks in patients with insular DLGGs. Our findings indicate that insular gliomas in different hemispheres can induce different alterations of functional networks, and these alterations may be related to functional compensation 10 .…”

“…In this study, we investigated the alterations of functional networks in patients with insular DLGGs. Our findings indicate that insular gliomas in different hemispheres can induce different alterations of functional networks, and these alterations may be related to functional compensation 10 . www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Rs-fMRI and graph theoretical analysis are widely accepted as reliable methods for investigating alterations in functional networks 23 .…”

“…Importantly, accumulating studies have reported that functional plasticity not only depends on morphological remodeling 6 , 7 but also functional network reorganization 8 , 9 . Compared with studies on the involvement of the contralateral cortex in remodeling 10 , 11 , it is still unknown how the contralateral cortex-induced changes in brain networks participate in reorganization.…”

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“…These inherent characteristics indicate that IDHwt-A glioma has higher invasiveness and greater tumor momentum than IDHm glioma. Furthermore, highly invasive IDHwt-A glioma not only damages the brain network more quickly but also has a negative effect on neuroplasticity, which ultimately leads to worse NCF performance (24)(25)(26)(27)(28). As our data suggest, patients who present with more rapid and extensive NCF decline may be likely to harbor aggressive characteristics, such as genetic alteration of IDHwt.…”