Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) frequently suffer from memory disorders, and the pathological changes show widespread regional impairments in the brain. In lithium-pilocarpine (LIP)-treated rats with TLE, an abnormal hippocampal microstructure and functional connectivity have been observed. However, changes in other brain regions are still unclear. In the present study, diffusion tensor imaging and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals were collected in LIP-TLE rats and controls using a 7.0 T MRI. Microstructural parameters and functional connectivity were calculated among regions of interest (ROIs), including the bilateral prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. A correlation analysis was further performed between the neuroimaging results and the behavioral performance in the novel object and novel location memory tests. In our results, TLE rats showed increased fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the hippocampus and decreased FA values in the amygdala and entorhinal cortex. In addition, decreased functional connectivity between the amygdala and the CA3, and increased connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the CA1 were observed in the TLE rats compared to control rats. Moreover, FA values in the amygdala, the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex, as well as the amygdala-CA3 and the prefrontal-CA1 connectivity correlated with the memory performance. Based on our results, both the microstructure and functional connections were impaired in memory-related brain regions of LIP-TLE rats. Furthermore, the abnormal changes in the microstructure and functional connectivity were related to behavioral deficits in object and location memory.

中文翻译：

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毛果芸香碱治疗的大鼠的大脑中与记忆相关的区域性损伤的基于微结构和功能连接性的证据。

颞叶癫痫（TLE）患者经常患有记忆障碍，并且病理变化显示大脑中广泛的区域性损伤。在患有锂-毛果芸香碱（LIP）的TLE大鼠中，观察到海马微结构和功能连接异常。但是，其他大脑区域的变化仍不清楚。在本研究中，使用7.0 T MRI在LIP-TLE大鼠和对照组中收集了弥散张量成像和功能磁共振成像（MRI）信号。计算了感兴趣区域（ROI）之间的微结构参数和功能连接性，包括双边前额叶皮层，杏仁核，海马和内嗅皮层。在新的对象和新的位置记忆测试中，神经影像学结果与行为表现之间还进行了相关分析。在我们的结果中，TLE大鼠在海马中显示出分数各向异性（FA）值增加，在杏仁核和内嗅皮层中显示出FA值降低。此外，与对照组相比，TLE大鼠的杏仁核和CA3之间的功能连通性降低，前额叶皮层和CA1之间的连通性增加。此外，杏仁核，海马和内嗅皮层以及杏仁核-CA3和前额叶-CA1连接性中的FA值与记忆性能相关。根据我们的研究结果，LIP-TLE大鼠的记忆相关脑区的微观结构和功能连接均受损。此外，