A Multiscale Expedition into Temporal Lobe Epilepsy's Morphological Landscape
Abstract number :
1.362
Submission category :
5. Neuro Imaging / 5A. Structural Imaging
Year :
2024
Submission ID :
718
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/7/2024 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Authors :
Presenting Author: Karoline Leiberg, PhD – Newcastle University
Bethany Little, PhD – Newcastle University
Jane de Tisi, BSc – University College London
Sjoerd Vos, PhD – University of Western Australia
Gavin P. Winston, PhD – Queen's University Canada
John Duncan, MD – University College London
Peter Taylor, PhD – Newcastle University
Bruno Mota, PhD – Instituto Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Yujiang Wang, PhD – Newcastle University
Rationale: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a neurological condition associated with grey matter atrophy. This atrophy results in quantifiable morphological alterations, in particular a thinning of the grey matter and an increase of cortical surface tension. However, previous descriptions of these morphological changes have been limited to a single length scale, or resolution. Here, we delineate the morphological changes associated with TLE in multiscale morphometrics, leveraging the fractal-like properties of cortical shape.
Methods: Using structural MRI of a cohort of 215 individuals with TLE and 100 healthy controls, we performed a multiscale morphological analysis of the effects of TLE. The morphological measures average cortical thickness, cortical surface tension, surface area, and morphological complexity were computed from surfaces reconstructed at length scales varying from 0.3 mm to 6 mm. We utilised a normative model to account for the covariates sex and ageing and quantify the deviations in the observed data from expected variation.
Results: We found that the effects of morphological changes due to TLE are highly scale-dependent, particularly in surface area and tension. In fact, we saw the largest effect sizes not at the smallest length scale, i.e. highest resolution, but in metrics computed at scales around 1.5 mm. This scale-dependency of morphological effects was evident even contralateral to the seizure onset.
Conclusions: The morphological effects of TLE show a strong scale-dependency, with largest effects occurring at medium length scales. This potentially indicates a network atrophy of remote cortical regions, affecting mid- and long-range fasciculi more so than superficial white matter. The increased effect sizes at larger length scales compared to traditional measures computed at a single length scale highlight the necessity of multiscale morphometrics for the analysis of structural abnormalities in TLE.
Funding: EP/Y016009/1
MR/V026569/1
MR/T04294X/1
grant Serra-1709-16981
CNPq PQ 2017 312837/2017-8
Neuro Imaging