New directions in PET neuroimaging for neocortical epilepsy

Our results and those of others demonstrate that the development of new PET probes with increasing sensitivity and specificity for epileptogenic brain regions is feasible. Further development of novel tracers guided by knowledge of the biochemical characteristics of epileptogenic cortex from basic studies is the logical next step in the application of neuroimaging to localize epileptogenic cortex. Furthermore, computational advances allowing coregistration of biochemical images with high-resolution MRI anatomic images, as well as electrophysiologic data sets, not only has practical value in guiding surgical resection of epileptogenic neocortex, but this approach contributes to further understanding of the biochemical mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of neocortical epilepsy.