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Abstract #0441

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cerebral Electromagnetic Activity in Epilepsy

Padmavathi Sundaram1,2, William M. Wells2, Robert V. Mulkern1, Ellen J. Bubrick3, Edward Barry Bromfield3, Mirjam Mnch4, Darren B. Orbach1,2

1Radiology, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; 2Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; 3Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; 4Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States


We attempt to visualize an MR signal directly linked to neuronal activity. We hypothesized that reliable detection of an MR signal directly linked to neuronal activity in vivo, would be most likely under the following conditions: (i) fast gradient echo EPI, (ii) a cohort of epilepsy subjects, and (iii) concurrent EEG. Our subjects frequently experience high amplitude cortical electromagnetic discharges called interictal discharges. We found that these interictal spikes in the EEG of our subjects induced easily detectable MR signal changes. We refer to our technique as Encephalographic Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (efMRI).