The Connectivity Pattern of the Amygdala
Abstract number :
1.491
Submission category :
1. Basic Mechanisms / 1A. Epileptogenesis of acquired epilepsies
Year :
2023
Submission ID :
1293
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/2/2023 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Authors :
Presenting Author: Lilly Tang, B.A. – University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Thandar Aung, MD – Neurology – University of Pittsburgh; Jonathan Ho, B.S. – School of Medicine – University of Pittsburgh; Arka Mallela, MD – Neurological Surgery – University of Pittsburgh; Modo Mathias, PhD MSc – Radiology & Engineering – University of Pittsburgh; Jorge Gonzalez-martinez, MD PhD – Neurological Surgery – University of Pittsburgh
Rationale:
The amygdala plays a critical role in mediating bodily responses to stress and fear and facilitating memory formation through innerviations to the hippocampus. Within the entire amygdaloid complex, total of thirteen nuclei has been reported in humans. Variable electrophysiological signals in human intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG) recording has been reported based upon the different location of the intra-cranial electrode placement within the amygdala. Previous anatomical study of the human brain have identified heterogenous inputs and outputs of the amydaloid subnuclei to cortical and subcortical regions using structural connnectivity. However, the exact functional connectivity differences between these amygdaloid subnuclei and their interactions during seizures remains relatively unclear in humans. Herein, we investigated the connectivity differences between ventral (basolateral nuclei) and dorsal (median and central nuclei) during interictal period of patients (n=9) with temporal lobe epilepsy.
Methods:
To investigate the neuronal connectivity between the amygdala to different regions in the brain, a coherence analysis of the stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) signals was performed. For each patient, 300-second of the background activity recordings were analyzed. SEEG data from all contacts implanted were high-pass filtered using a third-order Butterworth filter with a cutoff frequency of 1 Hz. Coherence was estimated for five second SEEG sliding windows overlapping by one second for the entirety of the 300-second segment. Analysis was separated by frequency bands up to 200Hz, accounting for delta [0.5 – 4Hz], theta [4 – 7Hz], alpha [8 – 13Hz], beta [13 – 35Hz] waves, and beyond [50 – 200Hz]. Coherence values were calculated across contacts. Contacts in specific Regions of Interest (ROIs) with reported associations with the amygdala were identified. To investigate the heterogeneity of the amygdala projections, bootstrap analysis was performed to compare the coherence values of the ROIs with respect to the dorsal and ventral amygdala. Significance was defined as p < 0.05.
Basic Mechanisms