Structural–functional coupling abnormalities in temporal lobe epilepsy

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, researchers are using advanced multimodal neuroimaging techniques to construct the brain network connectome to elucidate the complex relationship among the networks of brain functions and structure. The objective of this study was to evaluate the coupling of structural connectivity (SC) and functional connectivity (FC) in the entire brain of healthy controls (HCs), and to investigate modifications in SC–FC coupling in individuals suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS: We evaluated 65 patients with TLE matched for age and gender with 48 healthy controls. The SC–FC coupling between regions was determined, based on which whole-brain nodes were clustered. Differences in the coupling among the three groups of nodes were compared. To further validate the results obtained, the within-cluster coupling indices of the three groups were compared to determine the inter-group differences. RESULTS: Nodes were divided into five clusters. Cluster 1 was primarily located in the limbic system (n = 9/27), whereas cluster 5 was mainly within the visual network (n = 12/29). By comparing average cluster SC–FC coupling in each cluster of the three groups, we identified marked discrepancies within the three cohorts in Cluster 3 (p = 0.001), Cluster 4 (p < 0.001), and Cluster 5 (p < 0.001). Post-hoc analysis revealed that the SC–FC coupling strengths in LTLE and RTLE were significantly lower than that in HCs in Cluster 3 (PL = 0.001/PR = 0.003), Cluster 4 (PL = 0.001/PR < 0.001), and Cluster 5 (PL < 0.001/PR < 0.001). We also observed that the within-cluster SC–FC coupling in cluster 5 of left- and right TLE was significantly lower than in HCs (PL = 0.0001, PR = 0.0005). CONCLUSION: The SC and FC are inconsistently coupled across the brain with spatial heterogeneity. In the fifth cluster with the highest degree of coupling in HCs, the average SC–FC coupling index of individuals with TLE was notably less than that of HCs, manifesting that brain regions with high coupling may be more delicate and prone to pathological disruption.