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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Electromagnetic Source Imaging in Presurgical Evaluation of Children with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy

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Published on: September 20, 2024

Decrease in propagation of interictal epileptiform activity after introduction of levetiracetam visualized with

Pål G Larsson¹, Orvar Eeg-Olofsson, Christoph M Michel

¹Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, 0027, Norway.

Brain Topography

|June 25, 2010

Summary

Electric Source Imaging (ESI) effectively visualized epilepsy activity propagation. Levetiracetam (LEV) suppressed this propagation, indicating its potential as a biomarker for effective epilepsy drug development.

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Equipment Setup and Artifact Removal for Simultaneous Electroencephalogram and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Clinical Review in Epilepsy

Equipment Setup and Artifact Removal for Simultaneous Electroencephalogram and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Clinical Review in Epilepsy

Published on: June 23, 2023

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Medical Imaging

Background:

Epilepsy involves rapid spread of abnormal electrical activity between brain regions.
Current neuroimaging methods like fMRI, spectroscopy, and PET lack the temporal resolution to capture this fast propagation.
Electric Source Imaging (ESI) offers millisecond temporal resolution, enabling visualization of rapid neurophysiological events.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of an antiepileptic drug, levetiracetam (LEV), on the propagation patterns of interictal epileptiform activity.
To assess the utility of ESI in evaluating drug efficacy in epilepsy.

Main Methods:

Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings were obtained from 30 epilepsy patients before and after LEV introduction.
A distributed source model localized EEG sources, and the temporal evolution of activity in 20 regions of interest (ROIs) was analyzed.
Source propagation patterns between ROIs were compared between pre-LEV and in-LEV conditions.

Main Results:

Pre-LEV recordings showed propagation in 22/24 identified spike types.
In-LEV recordings revealed propagation in only 7/15 spike types, with most occurring in patients unresponsive to LEV.
LEV demonstrated a trend towards suppressing propagation even in non-seizing patients.

Conclusions:

Suppression of epileptiform activity propagation, as measured by ESI, serves as a potential indicator of effective antiepileptic treatment.
ESI shows promise as a valuable tool for the early clinical evaluation of novel antiepileptic drugs in development.