Grant: Project Grant

Knowing where epileptic activity is generated in the brain is vital for epilepsy patients who need surgery to remove these areas and become free from seizures. The analysis of regional functional magnetic resonance (MRI) time courses, given the epileptic spike timing from electroencephalography (EEG) recording, can suggest the target areas to be removed if both data sets are collected simultaneously. However, EEG data are very contaminated by noise when recorded during functional MRI. Here, we propose to combine a fast MRI method (one brain volume in 0.1 seconds) and EEG (fast MRI-EEG) to sensitively and accurately detect the brain areas generating epileptic activity. Without compromising functional MRI spatial resolution and sensitivity, the EEG in fast MRI-EEG has much less noise contamination than conventional MRI-EEG. Using a method of modeling the dynamics of a patient's heartbeats can further reduce the EEG noise. The combination of both novel methods will greatly improve the EEG data for detecting epileptic activity. We will pursue two aims in this project. First, fast MRI-EEG will be tested and validated in simulations and simple experiments that produce brief intervals of brain activity called "evoked potentials," then translated to a clinical protocol. Second, the brain areas generating epileptic activity from fast MRI-EEG will be validated by invasive stereotactic EEG (sEEG) recordings and the outcome of brain surgery in epilepsy patients. This project will show that fast MRI-EEG can better suggest the site of electrode implantation and the brain volume to be removed to minimize further risk of seizure. These are important steps forward to help neurosurgeons provide better surgical planning and patient management to improve the lives of many Canadians with epilepsy.