Intrinsic brain activity changes in temporal lobe epilepsy patients revealed by regional homogeneity analysis

Abstract Purpose Temporal lobe epilepsy is increasingly being recognized as a disorder associated with brain networks extending outside the seizure onset zone. In the current study, we aim to clarify regional functional changes using a regional homogeneity method. Methods We retrospectively included resting-state fMRI data from 14 left and 18 right temporal lobe epilepsy patients. Data from the control group were acquired from an open dataset. Regional homogeneity was calculated, and a two-sample t-test was performed to compare the left and right temporal lobe epilepsy groups with the control group. Results Compared with the healthy control group, the left temporal lobe epilepsy group showed increased regional homogeneity in the left anterior and middle cingulate cortex, and putamen; right inferior frontal gyrus; bilateral temporal lobe and precentral gyrus and decreased regional homogeneity in the left superior parietal gyrus, cuneus and inferior occipital gyrus; right inferior parietal lobule and bilateral rectus. The right temporal lobe epilepsy group showed increased regional homogeneity in the left middle cingulate cortex, precuneus, precentral and postcentral gyrus; right insula and bilateral temporal lobe and decreased regional homogeneity in the left cuneus and superior occipital gyrus; right supramarginal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, lingual gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus and putamen; and the bilateral rectus. Conclusion Regional homogeneity measurements provide evidence supporting that temporal lobe epilepsy is a complex network disease. Functional disruption of temporal lobe epilepsy at the brain region level was revealed, which may provide novel insights for any potential diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.