Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and network-based analyses can help characterize absence epilepsy in children according to a study that looked at 16 patients between ages 6 and 12 years who had absence epilepsy.
- Researchers found functional/anatomical hubs in a network that contained bilateral precuneus, left thalamus, three anterior cerebellar subunits of lobule IV-V, vermis, and lobule III.
- Their analysis suggests that these hubs, which are highly connected brain areas, exist in focal cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar areas during absence seizures.
- The existence of hubs in thalami, precuneus and cingulate cortex suggest bilaterally distributed networks of cortical and subcortical regions that may be responsible for seizures.
- Hubs in the anterior cerebellum may be related to terminating motor automatism seen in absence seizures.
Youssofzadeh, V, Agler W, Tenney JF, Kadis DS. Whole-brain MEG connectivity-based analyses reveals critical hubs in childhood absence epilepsy. Epilepsy Res. 2018;145:102-109.
