Connectivity Patterns and Behavioral Outcomes After Stroke

Published on September 15, 2022

Stroke is like a disruption in the connectome, affecting blood flow and causing changes in brain network connectivity. Researchers conducted a study to determine if these connectivity patterns can predict long-term behavioral outcomes. They found that the functional coupling between the limbic and dorsal attention networks after stroke can serve as a biomarker for predicting clinical scores related to motor function and neurological deficit. This finding opens up new possibilities for improving prognosis and treatment after subcortical strokes. To dive deeper into the research and learn more about the neural mechanisms behind stroke recovery, check out the full article!

Stroke can be viewed as an acute disruption of an individual’s connectome caused by a focal or widespread loss of blood flow. Although individuals exhibit connectivity changes in multiple functional networks after stroke, the neural mechanisms that underlie the longitudinal reorganization of the connectivity patterns are still unclear. The study aimed to determine whether brain network connectivity patterns after stroke can predict longitudinal behavioral outcomes. Nineteen patients with stroke with subcortical lesions underwent two sessions of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning at a 1-month interval. By independent component analysis, the functional connectivity within and between multiple brain networks (including the default mode network, the dorsal attention network, the limbic network, the visual network, and the frontoparietal network) was disrupted after stroke and partial recovery at the second time point. Additionally, regression analyses revealed that the connectivity between the limbic and dorsal attention networks at the first time point showed sufficient reliability in predicting the clinical scores (Fugl-Meyer Assessment and Neurological Deficit Scores) at the second time point. The overall findings suggest that functional coupling between the dorsal attention and limbic networks after stroke can be regarded as a biomarker to predict longitudinal clinical outcomes in motor function and the degree of neurological functional deficit. Overall, the present study provided a novel opportunity to improve prognostic ability after subcortical strokes.

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