Matthew DeSalvo1,
Linda Douw1, Naoaki Tanaka1, Claus Reinsberger1,
Steven M. Stufflebeam1
1Athinoula
A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital,
Charlestown, MA, United States
In this study, we combined high resolution structural MRI with diffusion tensor imaging to study changes in whole-brain structural connectivity and network organization in unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Using a graph theoretical approach, we observed increased local connectivity in the ipsilateral temporal lobe as well as widespread bilateral changes in connectivity principally among areas of the default mode network. We hypothesize that these changes in connectivity are due to epileptic activity and relate to certain cognitive and psychiatric symptoms in this condition. We believe that this method will provide a useful tool for diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic monitoring.