The longitudinal relation between executive functioning and multilayer network topology in glioma patients

Many patients with glioma, primary brain tumors, suffer from poorly understood executive functioning deficits before and/or after tumor resection. We aimed to test whether frontoparietal network centrality of multilayer networks, which allow for integration across multiple frequencies, relates to and predicts executive functioning in glioma patients before and after tumor resection. Patients with glioma (n = 37) underwent neuropsychological tests assessing word fluency, inhibition, and set shifting, and resting-state magnetoencephalography before tumor resection (T1) and one year after resection (T2). We constructed binary multilayer networks comprising six layers, with each layer representing frequency-specific functional connectivity (phase lag index) between source-localized time series of 78 cortical regions. Average frontoparietal network multilayer eigenvector centrality, a measure for network integration, was calculated at both time points. Regression analyses were used to investigate its associations with executive functioning. At T1, lower multilayer integration ( p = 0.017) and having epilepsy ( p = 0.006) associated with poorer set shifting (adj. R 2 = 0.269). Decreasing multilayer integration ( p = 0.022) and not undergoing chemotherapy at T2 ( p = 0.004) related to deteriorating set shifting (adj. R 2 = 0.283). No significant associations were found for word fluency or inhibition, nor did T1 multilayer integration predict changes in executive functioning. As expected, our results establish multilayer integration of the frontoparietal network as a cross-sectional and longitudinal correlate of executive functioning in glioma patients. However, multilayer integration did not significantly predict postoperative changes in executive functioning, limiting its direct clinical relevance.