Determinants of brain network resilience after stroke

Article Article scientifique Article Determinants of brain network resilience after stroke eng 2025-06-06 2025 author Dirren Elisabeth 0000-0001-7757-4967 Stroke Research Group, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva 1205, Switzerland. 840921 author Klug Julian 0000-0002-4849-9811 Stroke Research Group, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva 1205, Switzerland. 801527 author Jarne Cécilia Stroke Research Group, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva 1205, Switzerland.,Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Bernal B1876, Argentina.,CONICET, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina.,Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark. 416817 author Vidaurre Diego Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark. author Carrera Emmanuel 0000-0003-0045-5382 Stroke Research Group, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva 1205, Switzerland. 812606 Département des neurosciences cliniques (OTONO) fcaf218 10.1093/braincomms/fcaf218 40574968 2632-1297 PMC12198767 https://academic.oup.com/braincomms/article/7/3/fcaf218/8157598 Strokes lead to widespread network changes that are associated with functional deficits and subsequent recovery. Beyond function, we hypothesize in this study that stroke-induced reorganization of brain connectivity increases network resilience against recurrent events, as an adaptive mechanism to limit the functional consequences of a new lesion. We used a dataset of 75 first-time stroke patients with resting-state functional connectivity assessed at 3 time-points within 1 year of stroke to determine whether brain networks of stroke patients become more resistant to recurrent lesions. We defined resilience as the ability of brain networks to maintain their core integrative and modular properties following recurrent attacks. Because recurrent strokes are unpredictable in the clinical setting, we probed resilience by comparing whole-brain global efficiency and modularity before and after virtual strokes, which consisted in removing network nodes that overlapped with clinical stroke lesion masks. Global efficiency was chosen as a graph metric to represent network integration, whereas modularity was used as an indicator of the network's modular structure. Both in terms of global efficiency and modularity, we observed greater resilience in patients than in controls. Resilience of global efficiency was greater in patients at 2 weeks and 3 months post primary stroke, whereas resilience of modularity was increased up to 1 year post stroke. We further considered architectural specificities of brain networks that may be associated with resilience, focusing on the distribution of nodal participation coefficient. We found that nodes with high participation coefficient in controls, so called hubs, had lower participation coefficient in stroke patients. Finally, we found that specific patient and primary lesion characteristics were associated with resilience. For instance, we observed increased resilience of global efficiency in younger patients and in those with high scores on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, whereas resilience of modularity was associated with older age. Importantly, there was no association between resilience and primary stroke lesion size. Our results unveil potential connectivity mechanisms of network resilience after stroke that could be targeted by future therapeutic strategies to limit the impact of recurrent lesions. Connectivity Graph theory Network robustness Virtual stroke Dewey 616.8 Swiss National Science Foundation Manipulating the peri-infarct cortex using Maraviroc to enhance motor skills after stroke 215285 CH Projects 61 Département des neurosciences cliniques 226 false 1416 Accident vasculaire cérébral 1049 https://github.com/JulianKlug/stroke-resilience Brain communications 7 3 3be72122-7ecf-4a6a-9960-d2bd8a6e7da0 Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_europePmc.pdf 2543757 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 ccb0ffe2d4215a07ba31e8cfbe138f3fa4ec8a840caa844bbc987b2b59b5736d 45b2d9f7-935c-45c4-a8ce-0c051f9f61a5 Appendix Public fcaf218_supplementary_data.pdf 251923 application/pdf a77a1358131fe4e5f3110363f935ca74eef8995442aced08644247ac83e96fce openAccess Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département des neurosciences cliniques

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Determinants of brain network resilience after stroke	Brain communications			2025	39	144

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