4.6 Article

Disturbed functional connectivity and topological properties of the frontal lobe in minimally conscious state based on resting-state fNIRS

Journal

FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 17, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1118395

Keywords

minimally conscious state; functional near-infrared spectroscopy; frontal lobe; functional connectivity; graph theory

Categories

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The frontal functional network in minimally conscious state (MCS) patients is disrupted, particularly in the frontopolar area and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The nodal clustering coefficient and nodal local efficiency in the left frontopolar area and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex are significantly reduced in MCS patients. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the pathological mechanism of MCS patients.
BackgroundPatients in minimally conscious state (MCS) exist measurable evidence of consciousness. The frontal lobe is a crucial part of the brain that encodes abstract information and is closely related to the conscious state. We hypothesized that the disturbance of the frontal functional network exists in MCS patients. MethodsWe collected the resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data of fifteen MCS patients and sixteen age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC). The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scale of MCS patients was also composed. The topology of the frontal functional network was analyzed in two groups. ResultsCompared with HC, the MCS patients showed widely disrupted functional connectivity in the frontal lobe, especially in the frontopolar area and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Moreover, the MCS patients displayed lower clustering coefficient, global efficiency, local efficiency, and higher characteristic path length. In addition, the nodal clustering coefficient and nodal local efficiency in the left frontopolar area and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were significantly reduced in MCS patients. Furthermore, the nodal clustering coefficient and nodal local efficiency in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were positively correlated to auditory subscale scores. ConclusionThis study reveals that MCS patients' frontal functional network is synergistically dysfunctional. And the balance between information separation and integration in the frontal lobe is broken, especially the local information transmission in the prefrontal cortex. These findings help us to understand the pathological mechanism of MCS patients better.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available