title: Positron emission tomography: the contribution of cognitive activation paradigms to the understanding of the epilepsies.
abstract: Cognitive activation paradigms coupled with positron emission tomographic techniques may aid in the identification of functional and epileptogenic zones for presurgical evaluation. More work is needed to determine the most clinically efficacious paradigms for different seizure types. The real strength of activation positron emission tomography lies in the ability to study shifts in cognitive circuitry that accompany a fixed neuropathologic entity for both groups of similar subjects and individuals. These techniques are enhancing our understanding of the fundamentals of brain plasticity and may be used in the future to predict precise surgical risks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Swartz
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mandelkern
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003071:Cognition; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed