Complex-value coherence mapping reveals novel abnormal resting-state functional connectivity networks in task-specific focal hand dystonia

Resting-state imaging designs are powerful in modeling functional networks in movement disorders because they eliminate task performance related confounds. However, the most common metric for quantifying functional connectivity, i.e., bivariate magnitude coherence (Coh), can sometimes be contaminated by spurious correlations in blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal due to smoothing and seed blur, thereby limiting the identification of true interactions between neighboring neural populations. Here, we apply a novel functional connectivity metric., i.e., imaginary coherence (ICoh), to BOLD fMRI data in healthy individuals and patients with task-specific focal hand dystonia (tspFHD), in addition to the traditional magnitude Coh metric. We reconstructed resting-state sensorimotor, basal ganglia, and default-mode networks using both Coh and ICoh. We demonstrate that indeed the ICoh metric eliminates spatial blur around seed placement and reflects slightly different networks from Coh. We then identified significant reductions in resting-state connectivity within both the sensorimotor and basal ganglia networks in patients with tspFHD, primarily in the hemisphere contralateral to the affected hand. Collectively, these findings direct our attention to the fact that multiple networks are decoupled in tspFHD that can be unraveled by different functional connectivity metrics, and that this aberrant communication contributes to clinical deficits in the disorder.