Epilepsy is a complex disorder whose etiology spans from underlying genetic to structural causes. Additionally, neuroimaging is essential in its diagnostic work-up. For instance, conventional brain MRI can disclose overt structural brain abnormalities giving rise to seizures in common and rare epilepsies. However, it may also fail to disclose any abnormality in patients with high suspicion of an epileptogenic structural brain lesion, such as those referred for epilepsy surgery. Advanced neuroimaging techniques (e.g. MRI fingerprinting, brain morphometry, functional MRI, Ultra-High Field MRI, neuroimaging meta-analysis) can provide an added value to fill this diagnostic gap, especially with regards to defining subtle underlying lesions, thus enabling more thorough clinical assessments of epilepsies with otherwise unclear etiologies.
Moreover, advanced neuroimaging is a powerful tool to investigate neural networks underlying seizure generation, epilepsy-associated large-scale system reorganization, and substrates of cognitive comorbidities. Most advanced imaging techniques can be applied both to study groups and single subjects, providing working hypotheses that can subsequently be explored in larger studies. Eventually, comprehensive views can be provided by neuroimaging meta-analysis, that explore morphological and functional brain abnormalities shared by subjects with common epilepsies or specific syndromes via a multicentric research efforts.
In this Research topic, we would like to provide a comprehensive overview of epilepsy research that has applied diverse, innovative neuroimaging techniques developed in recent years.
We aim to focus on two main themes:
(i) Hypothesis testing and pursuit of mechanisms: how advanced neuroimaging can be employed to verify or explore the pathophysiological processes underlying common epilepsies;
(ii) Clinical application: to define the role of advanced neuroimaging techniques in the diagnostic work-up of both common and rare epilepsies.
Thus, topic editors will welcome any types of manuscripts supported by the Journal – comprised of research article, Methods, brief research article, review, and mini-review – about, but not limited to the following themes:
• Identification of subtle morphological brain abnormalities using conventional neuroimaging approaches
• Investigation on the microscopic characteristics of brain lesions identified by conventional imaging
• Analysis of structural and functional brain abnormalities in groups of subjects with epilepsy or specific syndromes
• Exploration of the functional networks associated with seizures/interictal spikes, epilepsy-related neural system reorganization, and cognitive comorbidities.
Syndromes and subfields of particular interest are: temporal lobe epilepsy, epilepsy of unknown origin, epilepsy in autoimmune encephalitis, idiopathic generalized epilepsies, brain channelopathies, and malformations of cortical development.
Epilepsy is a complex disorder whose etiology spans from underlying genetic to structural causes. Additionally, neuroimaging is essential in its diagnostic work-up. For instance, conventional brain MRI can disclose overt structural brain abnormalities giving rise to seizures in common and rare epilepsies. However, it may also fail to disclose any abnormality in patients with high suspicion of an epileptogenic structural brain lesion, such as those referred for epilepsy surgery. Advanced neuroimaging techniques (e.g. MRI fingerprinting, brain morphometry, functional MRI, Ultra-High Field MRI, neuroimaging meta-analysis) can provide an added value to fill this diagnostic gap, especially with regards to defining subtle underlying lesions, thus enabling more thorough clinical assessments of epilepsies with otherwise unclear etiologies.
Moreover, advanced neuroimaging is a powerful tool to investigate neural networks underlying seizure generation, epilepsy-associated large-scale system reorganization, and substrates of cognitive comorbidities. Most advanced imaging techniques can be applied both to study groups and single subjects, providing working hypotheses that can subsequently be explored in larger studies. Eventually, comprehensive views can be provided by neuroimaging meta-analysis, that explore morphological and functional brain abnormalities shared by subjects with common epilepsies or specific syndromes via a multicentric research efforts.
In this Research topic, we would like to provide a comprehensive overview of epilepsy research that has applied diverse, innovative neuroimaging techniques developed in recent years.
We aim to focus on two main themes:
(i) Hypothesis testing and pursuit of mechanisms: how advanced neuroimaging can be employed to verify or explore the pathophysiological processes underlying common epilepsies;
(ii) Clinical application: to define the role of advanced neuroimaging techniques in the diagnostic work-up of both common and rare epilepsies.
Thus, topic editors will welcome any types of manuscripts supported by the Journal – comprised of research article, Methods, brief research article, review, and mini-review – about, but not limited to the following themes:
• Identification of subtle morphological brain abnormalities using conventional neuroimaging approaches
• Investigation on the microscopic characteristics of brain lesions identified by conventional imaging
• Analysis of structural and functional brain abnormalities in groups of subjects with epilepsy or specific syndromes
• Exploration of the functional networks associated with seizures/interictal spikes, epilepsy-related neural system reorganization, and cognitive comorbidities.
Syndromes and subfields of particular interest are: temporal lobe epilepsy, epilepsy of unknown origin, epilepsy in autoimmune encephalitis, idiopathic generalized epilepsies, brain channelopathies, and malformations of cortical development.
