Neuroimaging discoveries shed light on my common self

Eastern Hanover, New Jersey. January 6, 2022. – A team of stroke experts reported the results of a neuroimaging study exploring the relationship between delirium and spatial neglect, serious complications that affect up to 50% of people with stroke in the right hemisphere. These disorders were linked to dysfunction of brain networks associated with arousal, attention and spatial orientation, as well as changes in right brain connectivity. These findings have implications for the development of diagnostic tools and new behavioral therapies for these complications that impede recovery from stroke.

The article “Brain network dysfunction in post-stroke delirium and spatial neglect: an fMRI study” was published on October 8, 2021 in Stroke (doi: 10.1161 / STROKEAHA.121.035733). The authors are Olga Boukrina, PhD, Mateusz Kowalczyk, Yury Koush, PhD, Yekyung Kong, MD, and AM Barrett, MD.

Link: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.035733

The team studied 29 participants who had stroke in the right hemisphere; 21% met the criteria for delirium, 45% for sub-syndromic delirium and 55% for spatial neglect. Using fMRI of the resting brain, the study found that reduced connectivity within the brain’s arousal network was associated with more severe spatial neglect. Likewise, increased interconnectivity of the right dominant attention network with unaffected regions of the left hemisphere was associated with more severe spatial neglect and delirium. This indicates that delirium and spatial neglect may be linked to an imbalance in hemispherical cortical-subcortical connectivity.

Findings have clinical significance, according to lead author Olga Boukrina, PhD, researcher at the Center for Stroke Rehabilitation To research at the Kessler Foundation. “Recognizing the overlap of these conditions will help raise awareness of the risks of delirium and spatial neglect after stroke,” said Dr Boukrina. “We also found that functional deficits resulting from spatial neglect contributed to the risk of delirium, an acute and severe consequence of stroke that can lead to chronic cognitive decline. This interesting finding points to a potential path to new treatments and improved outcomes for stroke survivors. ”

Funding: American Heart Association (grant 17SDG33660442); National Institute of Aging (R24AG054259)

About the Kessler Foundation:

The Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes – including employment – for people with neurological disorders caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. The Kessler Foundation leads the country by funding innovative programs that expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Ongoing research studies at the Kessler Foundation: https://kesslerfoundation.org/join-our-research-studies

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Press contact:

Carolann Murphy, Pennsylvania; [email protected]

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#Neuroimaging study from #KesslerFoundation explores mechanisms of # delirium and # post-stroke #spatial neglectivity @American_Heart @ OlgaB23779771 @ambarrett

Picture:

Title: Olga Boukrina, PhD, from the Kessler Foundation

Caption: Dr Boukrina is a researcher at the Kessler Foundation’s Stroke Rehabilitation Research Center and director of the Center’s Neurolinguistics and Brain Connectivity Laboratory.

Podcast:

Fast setting: Dr. Boukrina of the Kessler Foundation discusses the clinical implications of his peer-reviewed article published in Stroke – Brain network dysfunction in post-stroke delirium and spatial neglect: an fMRI study

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