Tracking whole-brain connectivity dynamics in the resting-state fMRI with post-facial paralysis synkinesis

Background: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is widely applied to explore abnormal functional connectivity (FC) in patients with post-facial paralysis synkinesis (PFPS). However, most studies considered steady spatial-temporal signal interactions between distinct brain regions during the period of scanning. Objective: In this study, we aim to investigate abnormal dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) in PFPS patients. Methods: We enrolled 31 PFPS patients and 19 healthy controls. All participants underwent rs-fMRI. Sliding windows approach was applied to construct dFC matrices. Next, these matrices were clustered into distinct states using the k-means clustering algorithm. Results: We found that it was not the dFC patterns, but rather the temporal properties including the mean dwell time (MDT) and occurrence frequencies, that showed a significant difference between PFPS patients and healthy controls. Two randomly clustered dFC states were recognized for both groups. Among them, State 1 showed significantly lower connectivity compared to State 2 in patients group. Compared to healthy controls, the duration spent by the PFPS patients in the state with lower connectivity significantly increased and is positively correlated with the better facial function. Conclusions: In conclusion, aberrant dFC is a fundamental feature of brain dysfunction in PFPS patients, which is associated with the facial nerve function. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the abnormal brain reorganization mechanisms in PFPS patients.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate abnormal dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) in patients with post-facial paralysis synkinesis (PFPS). The results showed that temporal properties, such as mean dwell time (MDT) and occurrence frequencies, rather than dFC patterns, significantly differed between PFPS patients and healthy controls. Additionally, aberrant dFC was found to be associated with facial nerve function, suggesting a fundamental feature of brain dysfunction in PFPS patients.