The impact of paediatric epilepsy and co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders on functional brain networks in wake and sleep

Leandro Junges*, Daniel Galvis, Alice Winsor, Grace Treadwell, Caroline Richards, Stefano Seri, Samuel Johnson, John R. Terry, Andrew P. Bagshaw

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders in children. Diagnosing epilepsy in children can be very challenging, especially as it often coexists with neurodevelopmental conditions like autism and ADHD. Functional brain networks obtained from neuroimaging and electrophysiological data in wakefulness and sleep have been shown to contain signatures of neurological disorders, and can potentially support the diagnosis and management of co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions. In this work, we use electroencephalography (EEG) recordings from children, in restful wakefulness and sleep, to extract functional connectivity networks in different frequency bands. We explore the relationship of these networks with epilepsy diagnosis and with measures of neurodevelopmental traits, obtained from questionnaires used as screening tools for autism and ADHD. We explore differences in network markers between children with and without epilepsy in wake and sleep, and quantify the correlation between such markers and measures of neurodevelopmental traits. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the interplay between epilepsy and neurodevelopmental traits when exploring network markers of epilepsy.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0309243
Number of pages14
JournalPLOS One
Volume19
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Junges et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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