Functional MRI Studies of Animal Models in Epilepsy

Summary:  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become a widely used imaging modality in the past decade in both human studies and animal models. Epilepsy presents unique challenges for neuroimaging due to subject movement during seizures, and the need to correlate the timing of often unpredictable seizure events with fMRI data acquisition. These challenges can readily be overcome in animal models of epilepsy. Animal models also provide an opportunity to investigate the fundamental relationships between fMRI signals and brain electrical activity through invasive studies not possible in humans. fMRI studies in animal models of epilepsy can enable us to correctly interpret fMRI signal increases and decreases in human studies, ultimately elucidating specific networks that will be targeted for improved treatment of epilepsy.