Functional connectivity of sensorimotor network before and after surgery in the supplementary motor area

After resective glioma surgery in the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA), patients often experience a transient disturbance of the ability to initiate speech and voluntary motor actions, known as the SMA syndrome (SMAS). It has been proposed that enhanced interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) within the sensorimotor system may serve as a potential mechanism for recovery, enabling the non-resected SMA to assume the function of the resected region. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent to which changes in FC can be observed in patients after resolution of the SMAS.

Eight patients underwent resection of left SMA due to suspected gliomas, resulting in various levels of the SMA syndrome. Resting-state functional MR images were acquired prior to the surgery and after resolution of the syndrome.

At the group level we found an increased connectivity between the unaffected (right) SMA and the primary motor cortex on the same side following surgery. However, no significant increase in interhemispheric connectivity was observed.

These findings challenge the prevailing notion that increased interhemispheric FC serves as the only mechanism underlying recovery from SMA syndrome and suggest the presence of one or more alternative mechanisms.