Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), volumetric MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging are providing new insights into the epileptic brain, according to a recent review of the research literature from Balter et al. fMRI, for instance, is improving clinicians’ understanding of how patients with epilepsy organize and reorganize the complexities of language before and after surgery. Volumetric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging are giving investigators insights into how patients with various epilepsy syndromes cope with language dysfunction by allowing the researchers to visualize structural and microsctructural changes associated with these syndromes. The literature review also discusses the value of new analytic techniques like graph theory to better understand abnormal brain connectivity in this patient population.Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), volumetric MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging are providing new insights into the epileptic brain, according to a recent review of the research literature from Balter et al. fMRI, for instance, is improving clinicians’ understanding of how patients with epilepsy organize and reorganize the complexities of language before and after surgery. Volumetric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging are giving investigators insights into how patients with various epilepsy syndromes cope with language dysfunction by allowing the researchers to visualize structural and microsctructural changes associated with these syndromes. The literature review also discusses the value of new analytic techniques like graph theory to better understand abnormal brain connectivity in this patient population.
Balter S, Lin G, Leyden KM, Paul BM, McDonald CR. Neuroimaging correlates of language network impairment and reorganization in temporal lobe epilepsy. Brain Lang. 2016:pii S0093-934X(15)30127-9.
