Neurobiological substrates of processing speed in childhood epilepsy

This study investigated the association between processing speed and cortical morphometry in children with idiopathic epilepsies (n = 81) versus healthy controls (n = 57), age 8-18. Participants underwent 1.5 T MRI scanning and cognitive testing including assessment of psychomotor speed (Digit Symbol) at or near the time of epilepsy diagnosis. Vertex analyses of cortical volume, thickness, surface area, and local gyrification index (LGI), as well as volume-based analyses of subcortical structures and cerebellum, were used to determine the morphometric correlates of Digit Symbol performance. Group comparisons revealed that the epilepsy and control groups exhibited different patterns of morphometric association with Digit Symbol performance - controls exhibited several areas of correlation between LGI and psychomotor speed, whereas participants with focal epilepsies exhibited different areas of correlation in different directions, and participants with generalized epilepsy exhibited no correlations. The other cortical morphometric measures showed no regions of significant correlation with Digit Symbol performance. In addition, cerebellum and brain stem volumes correlated with Digit Symbol performance in the control group, but not in epilepsy patients. These results suggest that LGI analysis is able to capture nuanced relationships between features of cortical and subcortical morphology with psychomotor speed, these relationships disrupted in different ways in children with epilepsy.