1. Directed Connectivity Analysis of the Neuro-Cardio- and Respiratory Systems Reveals Novel Biomarkers of Susceptibility to SUDEP
- Author
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T. Noah Hutson, Farnaz Rezaei, Nicole M. Gautier, Jagadeeswaran Indumathy, Edward Glasscock, and Leonidas Iasemidis
- Subjects
Epilepsy ,SUDEP ,Brain-Heart-Lungs ,Functional Network Connectivity ,Dynamics and Biomarkers ,Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics ,R858-859.7 ,Medical technology ,R855-855.5 - Abstract
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the leading cause of epilepsy-related mortality and its pathophysiological mechanisms remain unknown. Goal: We set to record and analyze for the first time concurrent electroencephalographic (EEG), electrocardiographic (ECG), and unrestrained whole-body plethysmographic (Pleth) signals from control (WT - wild type) and SUDEP-prone mice (KO- knockout Kcna1 animal model). Methods: Employing multivariate autoregressive models (MVAR) we measured all tri-organ effective directional interactions by the generalized partial directed coherence (GPDC) in the frequency domain over time (hours). Results: When compared to the control (WT) animals, the SUDEP-prone (KO) animals exhibited (p < 0.001) reduced afferent and efferent interactions between the heart and the brain over the full frequency spectrum (0-200Hz), enhanced efferent interactions from the brain to the lungs and from the heart to the lungs at high (>90 Hz) frequencies (especially during periods with seizure activity), and decreased feedback from the lungs to the brain at low (Conclusions: These results show that impairment in the afferent and efferent pathways in the holistic neuro-cardio-respiratory network could lead to SUDEP, and effective connectivity measures and their dynamics could serve as novel biomarkers of susceptibility to SUDEP and seizures respectively. more...
- Published
- 2020
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