| Location: | Epilepsy Research Department, Institute of Neurology, University College London. |
|---|---|
| Amount: | £71,975 |
| Status: | Research completed |
| Start Date: | 1st March 2003 |
| Finish Date: | 14th January 2005 |
| Grantholder: | Dr L Lemieux, PhD and Professor D R Fish, MD, FRCP. |
| Research worker: | Mr A Colella |
Epilepsy is the single most common serious neurological disorder, with 1 in 200 of the total UK population affected by chronic epilepsy. Approximately 20% of these patients have such severe epilepsy that surgery must be considered but it can only take place if the epileptic focus can be localized. During an epileptic seizure, the normally well-ordered electrical activity in the brain is suddenly disturbed by chaotic and unregulated electrical discharges. This team are world leaders in using a technique which combines the recording of electroencephalograms (EEG) and functional MRI (fMRI) to obtain brain scans during events of interest or ‘spikes’. These spikes indicate electrical activity in the brain and they are much more frequent than seizures and easier to record. The aim is to better localize the origin of the spike as this may help the surgical treatment of epilepsy.