Dynamic degree centrality in stroke-induced Broca's aphasia varies based on first language: A functional MRI study

Background and Purpose

This study sought to explore dynamic degree centrality (DC) variability in particular regions of the brain in patients with poststroke Broca aphasia (BA) using a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) approach, comparing differences between Uyghur and Chinese BA patients.

Methods

This study investigated two factors, language and BA status, and divided patients into four groups: Uyghur aphasia patients (UA), Uyghur normal control subjects (UN), Chinese aphasia patients (CA), and Chinese normal subjects (CN) who underwent rs-fMRI analysis. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to calculate the comprehensive differences in dynamic DC among these four groups. Correlations between DC and language behavior were assessed with partial correlation analyses.

Results

Two-way ANOVA revealed comparable results for the results of pairwise comparisons of dynamic DC variability among the four groups in the right middle frontal gyrus/orbital part (ORBmid.R), right superior frontal gyrus/dorsolateral, and right precuneus (PCUN.R), with results as follows: UA < UN, CA > CN, UA < CA, and UN > CN (p < .05, with the exception of the p-values for UA and UN in superior frontal gyrus/dorsolateral). In contrast, the opposite results were observed for the right calcarine fissure and surrounding cortex (CAL.R, p < .05).

Conclusion

The observed enhancement of dynamic DC variability in ORBmid.R and PCUN.R among Chinese BA patients and in CAL.R in Uyghur BA patients may be attributable to language network restructuring. Overall, these results suggest that BA patients who use different language families may exhibit differences in the network mechanisms that characterize observed impairments of language function.