Energy Associated With Dynamic Network Changes in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis and Cognitive Impairment
Tommy A.A. Broeders, Maureen van Dam, Giuseppe Pontillo, Vasco Rauh, Linda Douw, Ysbrand D. van der Werf, Joep Killestein, Frederik Barkhof, Christiaan H. Vinkers, Menno M. Schoonheim
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) often experience cognitive impairment, and this is related to structural disconnection and subsequent functional reorganization. It is unclear how specific patterns of functional reorganization might make it harder for cognitively impaired (CI) patients with MS to dynamically adapt how brain regions communicate, which is crucial for normal cognition. We aimed to identify dynamic functional network patterns that are relevant to cognitive impairment in MS and investigate whether these patterns can be explained by altered energy costs. METHODS: -means clustering of moment-to-moment cofluctuations (i.e., edge time series), and the resulting state sequence was used to characterize the frequency of transitions. Control energy of the state transitions was calculated using the structural network with network control theory. RESULTS: = 0.049). DISCUSSION: This study showed that it costs more energy for MS patients with cognitive impairment to dynamically change the functional network, possibly explaining why these transitions occur less frequently. In particular, transitions from a default mode network state to a visual network state were relevant for cognition in these patients. To further study the order of events leading to these network disturbances, future work should include longitudinal data across different disease stages.