Mary Pat McAndrews | ''What are best practices in using fMRI to assess cognitive integrity and predict post-operative morbidity in temporal lobe epilepsy?''
Senior Scientist, Krembil Research Institute
Research at UHN, Toronto, Canada
Abstract: The use of fMRI to understand how cognitive processes such as language and memory are disrupted by neurological disorders is starting to bear fruit in clinical care. In the case of temporal-lobe epilepsy, the focus is identifying imaging features that will assist with diagnosis and prognosis in the service of surgical planning. While much of the early translational work was concerned with focal task-related activation, it is becoming clear that network properties and connectivity amongst brain regions may be a more sensitive and appropriate biomarker of functional integrity of brain networks that support complex cognitive operations, and that predicting the impact of focal damage or surgery requires an appreciation of those networks. Against this background, I will discuss analyses of resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) as an emerging technique to address clinically-relevant questions about memory and language in the context of medial temporal lobe epilepsy.
For any question, feel free to contact:
Benjamin Morillon (bnmorillon@gmail.com) or Adam Williamson (adam.WILLIAMSON@univ-amu.fr)