Tracking longitudinal language network reorganisation using functional MRI connectivity fingerprints

• Main Authors: Natalie L. Voets, Oiwi Parker Jones, Claire Isaac, Rogier B. Mars, Puneet Plaha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-01-01
• Series: NeuroImage: Clinical
• Subjects: fMRI; Neuroplasticity; Longitudinal; Glioma; Neurosurgery; Language
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158221001339

Large individual differences in how brain networks respond to treatment hinder efforts to personalise treatment in neurological conditions. We used a brain network fingerprinting approach to longitudinally track re-organisation of complementary phonological and semantic language networks in 19 patients before and after brain-tumour surgery. Patient task fingerprints were individually compared to normal networks established in 17 healthy controls. Additionally, pre- and post-operative patient fingerprints were directly compared to assess longitudinal network adaptations. We found that task networks remained stable over time in healthy controls, whereas treatment induced reorganisation in 47.4% of patient fluency networks and 15.8% of semantic networks. How networks adapted after surgery was highly unique; a subset of patients (10%) showed ‘normalisation’ while others (21%) developed newly atypical networks after treatment. The strongest predictor of adaptation of the fluency network was the presence of clinically reported language symptoms. Our findings indicate a tight coupling between processes disrupting performance and neural network adaptation, the patterns of which appear to be both task- and individually-unique. We propose that connectivity fingerprinting offers potential as a clinical marker to track adaptation of specific functional networks across treatment interventions over time.