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Abstract #0008

Hard-Wired or Soft-Wired ? Evidence for the Structural Plasticity of White Matter Networks Following Anterior Temporal Lobectomy

Mahinda Yogarajah1, Niels Focke2, Silvia Bonelli1, Pam Thompson1, Christian Vollmar1, Andrew McEvoy3, Mark Symms1, Matthias Koepp1, John Duncan1

1MRI Unit, National Society for Epilepsy, Chalfont St Peter, Bucks, United Kingdom; 2University of Goettingen, Germany; 3University College London Hospital, United Kingdom


Epilepsy is the most chronic, common neurological condition. Many patients with temporal lobe epilepsy undergo anterior temporal lobe resection, but up to 40% of patients are at risk of language decline after surgery. We carried out a longitudinal study using diffusion tensor imaging to assess the structural reorganisation of white matter after surgery. In patients undergoing surgery in the language dominant hemisphere, there is an increase in FA in white matter connecting fronto-temporal regions. The location of these increases and their correlation with language function suggest they may represent the structural plasticity of language networks after surgery.