Abstract #1568

Integrating effective and functional connectivity shows disrupted oscillatory and causal dynamics in multiple sclerosis

Roberta Maria Lorenzi¹, Gökçe Korkmaz^1,2, Francesca Ravera^1,2, Adnan Alahmadi^2,3, Rebecca Samson², Egidio D'Angelo^1,4, Fulvia Palesi¹, Ahmed Toosy^2,5, and Claudia A.M. Gandini Wheeler Kingshott^1,2,4

¹Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy, ²NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³Department of Diagnostic Radiology, College of Applied medical sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ⁴Digital Neuroscience Center, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy, ⁵NMR Research Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

Synopsis

Keywords: Functional Connectivity, fMRI (resting state), Effective Connectivity; Dynamic Causal Modeling; BOLD signal

Motivation: Functional connectivity depends on brain oscillations providing a statistical indirect evaluation of the underlying neuronal activity.

Goal(s): We aim at integrating functional connectivity with effective connectivity, which directly measures neuronal activity driving causal relations between brain regions.

Approach: We used spectral Dynamic Causal Modeling to derive the effective connectivity, and assessed its relation with functional connectivity in healthy participants and multiple sclerosis patients.

Results: The coupling between effective and functional connectivity revealed an inverted correlation in motor and visual-to-motor pathways between groups. In healthy participants, information flow was causal-driven, whereas it shifted to oscillation-driven dynamics in multiple sclerosis.

Impact: Integrating effective and functional connectivity detects shifts between causal-driven and oscillation-driven dynamics in physiological and pathological conditions. This novel approach offers an opportunity to develop rehabilitation protocols based on the interplay between neuronal activity and brain oscillations.

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