Functional MRI and MR Spectroscopic Studies of Penicillin Induced and Kindled Sheep Models of Epilepsy

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Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting 1-2% of the population. Many epilepsy patients do not respond to drug therapy and their only hope for seizure control is surgical removal of the part of the brain responsible for their seizures. Successful surgery is very much dependent on the ability to exactly localize the seizure focus and this is often not possible using the imaging techniques currently available. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a new technique which may improve our ability to localize the seizure focus from which seizures arise, if the brain can be imaged at, or near, the time of a seizure. MR spectroscopy (MRS) enables us to detect metabolic changes in the brain which may persist at the site where seizures have begun for up to 30 minutes after the seizure. The aim of our research is to obtain a greater understanding of the changes detected with these MR modalities so that we can learn to apply these techniques to human sufferers of epilepsy. Ultimately it may help enable previously incurable epilepsy patients to undergo successful surgery and live normal lives.