Abstract
Lesion-symptom mapping is often employed to define brain structures that are crucial for human behavior. Even though poststroke deficits result from gray matter damage as well as secondary white matter loss, the impact of structural disconnection is overlooked by conventional lesion-symptom mapping because it does not measure loss of connectivity beyond the stroke lesion. This study describes how traditional lesion mapping can be combined with structural connectome lesion symptom mapping (CLSM) and connectome dynamics lesion symptom mapping (CDLSM) to relate residual white matter networks to behavior. Using data from a large cohort of stroke survivors with aphasia, we observed improved prediction of aphasia severity when traditional lesion symptom mapping was combined with CLSM and CDLSM. Moreover, only CLSM and CDLSM disclosed the importance of temporal-parietal junction connections in aphasia severity. In summary, connectome measures can uniquely reveal brain networks that are necessary for function, improving the traditional lesion symptom mapping approach.
Footnotes
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Grants DC014021 (to L.B.), DC011739 and DC014664 (to J.F.), and DC05375 (to A.E.H.) and by the American Heart Association Grant SFDRN26030003 (to L.B.).
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