Investigation of Seizure Propagation Using EEG-FMRI and Dynamic Causal Modelling

Patricia Figueiredo¹, Alberto Leal²

One of the challenges of EEG-fMRI techniques in epilepsy is the investigation of the spatio-temporal dynamics of seizure-related BOLD signals. Here, we have employed Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) to test a number of competing models of discharge propagation within a network of functionally connected brain areas identified from EEG-fMRI data of ictal activity, in a patient with epilepsy associated with a hypothalamic hamartoma. Our results demonstrated the feasibility and utility of DCM in the study of the origin and propagation pathway of seizure activity, which may be of critical importance when deciding the surgical approach for epilepsy treatment.