Imagine your brain is like a bustling city, with different districts responsible for different functions. Now imagine that a mild stroke hits this city, causing disruptions in certain areas. This is exactly what happens when a person experiences a mild stroke and it affects their cognitive function. Researchers conducted a study to understand the impact of mild stroke on cognitive function, specifically focusing on the location of the stroke. They used brain network analysis to investigate how mild stroke affected the brain’s information processing efficiency during cognitive tasks. The study included patients with cortical and subcortical infarcts, as well as healthy controls. The results showed that both patient groups had worse performance on cognitive tasks compared to healthy controls, with longer reaction times and reduced accuracy. Additionally, the analysis revealed changes in the organization of brain networks at both global and regional levels, indicating disruptions in information processing efficiency caused by mild stroke. Interestingly, these disruptions were independent of lesion location. However, there were also distinct patterns of regional alterations between patients with cortical and subcortical infarcts. This study provides valuable insights into the neural mechanisms of mild stroke-induced cognitive impairment and highlights the importance of considering lesion location in post-stroke management and rehabilitation efforts. To learn more about this fascinating research, check out the full article!

Although consistent evidence has revealed that cognitive impairment is a common sequela in patients with mild stroke, few studies have focused on it, nor the impact of lesion location on cognitive function. Evidence on the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of mild stroke and lesion location on cognitive function is limited. This prompted us to conduct a comprehensive and quantitative study of functional brain network properties in mild stroke patients with different lesion locations. Specifically, an empirical approach was introduced in the present work to explore the impact of mild stroke-induced cognitive alterations on functional brain network reorganization during cognitive tasks (i.e., visual and auditory oddball). Electroencephalogram functional connectivity was estimated from three groups (i.e., 40 patients with cortical infarctions, 48 patients with subcortical infarctions, and 50 healthy controls). Using graph theoretical analysis, we quantitatively investigated the topological reorganization of functional brain networks at both global and nodal levels. Results showed that both patient groups had significantly worse behavioral performance on both tasks, with significantly longer reaction times and reduced response accuracy. Furthermore, decreased global and local efficiency were found in both patient groups, indicating a mild stroke-related disruption in information processing efficiency that is independent of lesion location. Regarding the nodal level, both divergent and convergent node strength distribution patterns were revealed between both patient groups, implying that mild stroke with different lesion locations would lead to complex regional alterations during visual and auditory information processing, while certain robust cognitive processes were independent of lesion location. These findings provide some of the first quantitative insights into the complex neural mechanisms of mild stroke-induced cognitive impairment and extend our understanding of underlying alterations in cognition-related brain networks induced by different lesion locations, which may help to promote post-stroke management and rehabilitation.

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