Graph-based analysis of the structural connectivity network modulation in stroke patients

Fiber bundles in the brain may be reconstructed from diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data. Structural brain networks may be modeled using connectomics techniques[sup][1][/sup]. Network analyses suggest that hierarchical modular brain networks are particularly suited to facilitate local neuronal operations and the global integration of segregated functions[sup][2][/sup]. Neurological pathologies impacted to structural networks, such that the differential characterization of their topology in pathological versus healthy conditions could lead to improved diagnosis and follow-up as well as the definition of new numerical biomarkers[sup][3,4][/sup]. In this work we investigated structural connectivity, performed by Diffusion Spectrum Imaging (DSI) followed by streamline tractography, in patients affected by stroke. Connectivity matrices were extracted for microstructural indices derived from the 3D Simple Harmonic Oscillator based Reconstruction and Estimation (SHORE) model[sup][5][/sup] and for magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) and graph models were derived.