title: Simultaneous EEG-fMRI in human epilepsy.
abstract: Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used to study and characterize epilepsy for decades, but has a limited ability to localize epileptiform activity to a specific brain region. With recent technological advances, high-quality EEG can now be recorded during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which characterizes brain activity through local changes in blood oxygenation. By combining these techniques, the specific timing of interictal events can be identified on the EEG at millisecond resolution and spatially localized with fMRI at millimeter resolution. As a result, simultaneous EEG-fMRI provides the opportunity to better investigate the spatiotemporal mechanisms of the generation of epileptiform activity in the brain. This article discusses the technical considerations and their solutions for recording simultaneous EEG-fMRI and the results of studies to date. It also addresses the application of EEG-fMRI to epilepsy in humans, including clinical applications and ongoing challenges.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Cameron J B
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: Mohammed El-fateh
authors.initials: Mel-F
authors.lastname: Zaamout
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goodyear
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Federico
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods