Recent advances in epilepsy stem from the notion that a network of brain areas, as opposed to a single onset zone, may be responsible for the onset and maintenance of seizures. This is critical as identifying and completely resecting the epileptogenic zone while preserving healthy eloquent cortex is considered to be the basis of the successful surgical treatment of epilepsy. However, methods to localize and quantitatively study the properties of these networks need to be improved. Recent advances in neuroscience include the development of tools for the analysis of cortical networks using graph theory and the identification of high frequency activity on EEG that correlates with neuronal population firing. Quantifying the connectivity between brain areas with graph theory allows comparison of normal and abnormal brain networks. Availability of a marker of highly localized neuronal population activity that can be recorded by conventional clinical electrodes offers a means to track brain activation rapidly as it propagates through cortex. Here, we propose to bridge the gap between current clinical practice that results in suboptimal surgical outcomes and a more detailed understanding of cortical networks and the spread of epileptic To determine the relationship between networks derived from neuroimaging and electrophysiology techniques, and 2) To localize functional and pathological networks using complementary methods from multiple recording techniques. The long term goal of this research is the application of network analysis to multimodal imaging to 1) better understand the relationship between non-invasive and invasive imaging and 2) develop more accurate techniques to localize epileptic networks to improve surgical outcome, both of which will be addressed in this proposal. This proposed study has two fundamental goals.

Public Health Relevance

The cure rate of surgery for patients with epilepsy originating outside the temporal lobe continues to be less than 50% despite improvements in surgery and brain imaging. This low rate of success likely stems from the fact that our techniques to define epileptic regions of the brain are limited and cannot be identified at the time of surgery. This project proposes to develop novel methods for identifying the areas in the human brain which may be safely removed to control seizures not stopped by medications. This research has important significance in improving efficacy of localizing the seizure zone and developing tools to improve surgical outcome.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31NS080357-02
Application #
8550546
Study Section
NST-2 Subcommittee (NST)
Program Officer
Fureman, Brandy E
Project Start
2012-07-01
Project End
2017-06-30
Budget Start
2013-07-01
Budget End
2014-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$47,232
Indirect Cost
Name
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Department
Neurosciences
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
110521739
City
Bronx
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10461
Keller, Corey J; Huang, Yuhao; Herrero, Jose L et al. (2018) Induction and Quantification of Excitability Changes in Human Cortical Networks. J Neurosci 38:5384-5398
Keller, Corey J; Davidesco, Ido; Megevand, Pierre et al. (2017) Tuning face perception with electrical stimulation of the fusiform gyrus. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2830-2842
Keller, Corey J; Chen, Christopher; Lado, Fred A et al. (2016) The Limited Utility of Multiunit Data in Differentiating Neuronal Population Activity. PLoS One 11:e0153154
Papo, David; Zanin, Massimiliano; Pineda-Pardo, José Angel et al. (2014) Functional brain networks: great expectations, hard times and the big leap forward. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 369:
Keller, Corey J; Honey, Christopher J; Entz, Laszlo et al. (2014) Corticocortical evoked potentials reveal projectors and integrators in human brain networks. J Neurosci 34:9152-63
Entz, László; Tóth, Emília; Keller, Corey J et al. (2014) Evoked effective connectivity of the human neocortex. Hum Brain Mapp 35:5736-53
Keller, Corey J; Honey, Christopher J; Mégevand, Pierre et al. (2014) Mapping human brain networks with cortico-cortical evoked potentials. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 369:
Groppe, David M; Bickel, Stephan; Keller, Corey J et al. (2013) Dominant frequencies of resting human brain activity as measured by the electrocorticogram. Neuroimage 79:223-33
Keller, Corey J; Bickel, Stephan; Honey, Christopher J et al. (2013) Neurophysiological investigation of spontaneous correlated and anticorrelated fluctuations of the BOLD signal. J Neurosci 33:6333-42