Magnetic resonance imaging pattern learning in temporal lobe epilepsy: classification and prognostics

Region-specific MRI predictors of surgical outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

In drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), it is not well-established in how far surgery should target morphological anomalies to achieve seizure freedom. Here, we assessed interactions between structural brain compromise and surgery to identify region-specific predictors of seizure outcome.

METHODS

We obtained pre- and post-operative 3D T1-weighted MRI in 55 TLE patients who underwent selective amygdalo-hippocampectomy (SAH) or anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) and 40 age and sex-matched healthy subjects. We measured surface-based morphological alterations of the mesiotemporal lobe structures (hippocampus, amygdala, entorhinal and piriform cortices), the neocortex and the thalamus on both pre- and post-operative MRI. Using precise co-registration, in each patient we mapped the surgical cavity onto the MRI acquired before surgery, thereby quantifying the amount of pathological tissue resected; these features, together with the preoperative morphometric data, served as input to a supervised classification algorithm for postsurgical outcome prediction.

RESULTS

On pre-operative MRI, patients who became seizure-free (TLE-SF) presented with severe ipsilateral amygdalar and hippocampal atrophy, while not seizure-free patients (TLE-NSF) displayed amygdalar hypertrophy. Stratifying patients based on the surgical approach, post-operative MRI showed similar patterns of mesiotemporal and thalamic changes, but divergent neocortical thinning affecting the parieto-temporo-occipital regions following ATL and the frontal lobes after SAH. Irrespective of the surgical approach, hippocampal atrophy on pre-operative MRI and its extent of resection were the most predictive features of seizure-freedom in 89% of patients (selected 100% across validations).

SIGNIFICANCE

Our study indicates a critical role of the extent of resection of MRI-derived hippocampal morphological anomalies on seizure outcome. Precise pre-operative quantification of the mesiotemporal lobe provides non-invasive prognostics for individualized surgery.

MRI-Derived Modeling of Disease Progression Patterns in Patients With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is assumed to follow a steady course that is similar across patients. To date, phenotypic and temporal diversities of TLE evolution remain unknown. In this study, we aimed at simultaneously characterizing these sources of variability based on cross-sectional data.

METHODS

We studied consecutive patients with TLE referred for evaluation by neurologists to the Montreal Neurological Institute epilepsy clinic, who underwent in-patient video EEG monitoring and multimodal imaging at 3 Tesla, comprising 3D T1 and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and 2D diffusion-weighted MRI. The cohort included patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and patients with drug-responsive epilepsy. The neuropsychological evaluation included Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and Leonard tapping task. The control group consisted of participants without TLE recruited through advertisement and who underwent the same MRI acquisition as patients. Based on surface-based analysis of key MRI markers of pathology (gray matter morphology and white matter microstructure), the Subtype and Stage Inference algorithm estimated subtypes and stages of brain pathology to which individual patients were assigned. The number of subtypes was determined by running the algorithm 100 times and estimating mean and SD of disease trajectories and the consistency of patients' assignments based on 1,000 bootstrap samples. Effect of normal aging was subtracted from patients. We examined associations with clinical and cognitive parameters and utility for individualized predictions.

RESULTS

We studied 82 patients with TLE (52 female, mean age 35 ± 10 years; 11 drug-responsive) and 41 control participants (23 male, mean age 32 ± 8 years). Among 57 operated, 43/37/20 had Engel-I outcome/hippocampal sclerosis/hippocampal isolated gliosis, respectively. We identified 3 trajectory subtypes: S1 (n = 35), led by ipsilateral hippocampal atrophy and gliosis, followed by white-matter damage; S2 (n = 27), characterized by bilateral neocortical atrophy, followed by ipsilateral hippocampal atrophy and gliosis; and S3 (n = 20), typified by bilateral limbic white-matter damage, followed by bilateral hippocampal gliosis. Patients showed high assignability to their subtypes and stages (>90% bootstrap agreement). S1 had the highest proportions of patients with early disease onset (effect size d = 0.27 vs S2, d = 0.73 vs S3), febrile convulsions (χ2 = 3.70), drug resistance (χ2 = 2.94), a positive MRI (χ2 = 8.42), hippocampal sclerosis (χ2 = 7.57), and Engel-I outcome (χ2 = 1.51), pFDR < 0.05 across all comparisons. S2 and S3 exhibited the intermediate and lowest proportions, respectively. Verbal IQ and digit span were lower in S1 (d = 0.65 and d = 0.50, pFDR < 0.05) and S2 (d = 0.76 and d = 1.09, pFDR < 0.05), compared with S3. We observed progressive decline in sequential motor tapping in S1 and S3 (T = -3.38 and T = -4.94, pFDR = 0.027), compared with S2 (T = 2.14, pFDR = 0.035). S3 showed progressive decline in digit span (T = -5.83, p = 0.021). Supervised classifiers trained on subtype and stage outperformed subtype-only and stage-only models predicting drug response in 73% ± 1.0% (vs 70% ± 1.4% and 63% ± 1.3%) and 76% ± 1.6% for Engel-I outcome (vs 71% ± 0.8% and 72% ± 1.1%), pFDR < 0.05 across all comparisons.

DISCUSSION

Cross-sectional MRI-derived models provide reliable prognostic markers of TLE disease evolution, which follows distinct trajectories, each associated with divergent patterns of hippocampal and whole-brain structural alterations, as well as cognitive and clinical profiles.

Connectome reorganization associated with temporal lobe pathology and its surgical resection

Network neuroscience offers a unique framework to understand the organizational principles of the human brain. Despite recent progress, our understanding of how the brain is modulated by focal lesions remains incomplete. Resection of the temporal lobe is the most effective treatment to control seizures in pharmaco-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), making this syndrome a powerful model to study lesional effects on network organization in young and middle-aged adults. Here, we assessed the downstream consequences of a focal lesion and its surgical resection on the brain's structural connectome, and explored how this reorganization relates to clinical variables at the individual patient level. We included adults with pharmaco-resistant TLE (n = 37) who underwent anterior temporal lobectomy between two imaging time points, as well as age- and sex-matched healthy controls who underwent comparable imaging (n = 31). Core to our analysis was the projection of high-dimensional structural connectome data-derived from diffusion MRI tractography from each subject-into lower-dimensional gradients. We then compared connectome gradients in patients relative to controls before surgery, tracked surgically-induced connectome reconfiguration from pre- to postoperative time points, and examined associations to patient-specific clinical and imaging phenotypes. Before surgery, individuals with TLE presented with marked connectome changes in bilateral temporo-parietal regions, reflecting an increased segregation of the ipsilateral anterior temporal lobe from the rest of the brain. Surgery-induced connectome reorganization was localized to this temporo-parietal subnetwork, but primarily involved postoperative integration of contralateral regions with the rest of the brain. Using a partial least-squares analysis, we uncovered a latent clinical imaging signature underlying this pre- to postoperative connectome reorganization, showing that patients who displayed postoperative integration in bilateral fronto-occipital cortices also had greater preoperative ipsilateral hippocampal atrophy, lower seizure frequency and secondarily generalized seizures. Our results bridge the effects of focal brain lesions and their surgical resections with large-scale network reorganization and interindividual clinical variability, thus offering new avenues to examine the fundamental malleability of the human brain.

Artificial intelligence in epilepsy - applications and pathways to the clinic

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming health care, and its applications in epilepsy have increased exponentially over the past decade. Integration of AI into epilepsy management promises to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of this complex disorder. However, translation of AI into neurology clinical practice has not yet been successful, emphasizing the need to consider progress to date and assess challenges and limitations of AI. In this Review, we provide an overview of AI applications that have been developed in epilepsy using a variety of data modalities: neuroimaging, electroencephalography, electronic health records, medical devices and multimodal data integration. For each, we consider potential applications, including seizure detection and prediction, seizure lateralization, localization of the seizure-onset zone and assessment for surgical or neurostimulation interventions, and review the performance of AI tools developed to date. We also discuss methodological considerations and challenges that must be addressed to successfully integrate AI into clinical practice. Our goal is to provide an overview of the current state of the field and provide guidance for leveraging AI in future to improve management of epilepsy.

Differential relational memory impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is typically associated with pathology of the hippocampus, a key structure involved in relational memory, including episodic, semantic, and spatial memory processes. While it is widely accepted that TLE-associated hippocampal alterations underlie memory deficits, it remains unclear whether impairments relate to a specific cognitive domain or multiple ones.

METHODS

We administered a recently validated task paradigm to evaluate episodic, semantic, and spatial memory in 24 pharmacoresistant TLE patients and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We carried out two-way analyses of variance to identify memory deficits in individuals with TLE relative to controls across different relational memory domains, and used partial least squares correlation to identify factors contributing to variations in relational memory performance across both cohorts.

RESULTS

Compared to controls, TLE patients showed marked impairments in episodic and spatial memory, with mixed findings in semantic memory. Even when additionally controlling for age, sex, and overall cognitive function, between-group differences persisted along episodic and spatial domains. Moreover, age, diagnostic group, and hippocampal volume were all associated with relational memory behavioral phenotypes.

SIGNIFICANCE

Our behavioral findings show graded deficits across relational memory domains in people with TLE, which provides further insights into the complex pattern of cognitive impairment in the condition.

The use of automated and AI-driven algorithms for the detection of hippocampal sclerosis and focal cortical dysplasia

In drug-resistant epilepsy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a central role in detecting lesions as it offers unmatched spatial resolution and whole-brain coverage. In addition, the last decade has witnessed continued developments in MRI-based computer-aided machine-learning techniques for improved diagnosis and prognosis. In this review, we focus on automated algorithms for the detection of hippocampal sclerosis and focal cortical dysplasia, particularly in cases deemed as MRI negative, with an emphasis on studies with histologically validated data. In addition, we discuss imaging-derived prognostic markers, including response to anti-seizure medication, post-surgical seizure outcome, and cognitive reserves. We also highlight the advantages and limitations of these approaches and discuss future directions toward person-centered care.

Machine learning applied to epilepsy: bibliometric and visual analysis from 2004 to 2023

Background

Epilepsy is one of the most common serious chronic neurological disorders, which can have a serious negative impact on individuals, families and society, and even death. With the increasing application of machine learning techniques in medicine in recent years, the integration of machine learning with epilepsy has received close attention, and machine learning has the potential to provide reliable and optimal performance for clinical diagnosis, prediction, and precision medicine in epilepsy through the use of various types of mathematical algorithms, and promises to make better parallel advances. However, no bibliometric assessment has been conducted to evaluate the scientific progress in this area. Therefore, this study aims to visually analyze the trend of the current state of research related to the application of machine learning in epilepsy through bibliometrics and visualization.

Methods

Relevant articles and reviews were searched for 2004-2023 using Web of Science Core Collection database, and bibliometric analyses and visualizations were performed in VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix (R-Tool of R-Studio).

Results

A total of 1,284 papers related to machine learning in epilepsy were retrieved from the Wo SCC database. The number of papers shows an increasing trend year by year. These papers were mainly from 1,957 organizations in 87 countries/regions, with the majority from the United States and China. The journal with the highest number of published papers is EPILEPSIA. Acharya, U. Rajendra (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore) is the authoritative author in the field and his paper "Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Automated Detection and Diagnosis of Epileptic Seizures Using EEG Signals" was the most cited. Literature and keyword analysis shows that seizure prediction, epilepsy management and epilepsy neuroimaging are current research hotspots and developments.

Conclusions

This study is the first to use bibliometric methods to visualize and analyze research in areas related to the application of machine learning in epilepsy, revealing research trends and frontiers in the field. This information will provide a useful reference for epilepsy researchers focusing on machine learning.

Evaluation of surface-based hippocampal registration using ground-truth subfield definitions

The hippocampus is an archicortical structure, consisting of subfields with unique circuits. Understanding its microstructure, as proxied by these subfields, can improve our mechanistic understanding of learning and memory and has clinical potential for several neurological disorders. One prominent issue is how to parcellate, register, or retrieve homologous points between two hippocampi with grossly different morphologies. Here, we present a surface-based registration method that solves this issue in a contrast-agnostic, topology-preserving manner. Specifically, the entire hippocampus is first analytically unfolded, and then samples are registered in 2D unfolded space based on thickness, curvature, and gyrification. We demonstrate this method in seven 3D histology samples and show superior alignment with respect to subfields using this method over more conventional registration approaches.

Complementary structural and functional abnormalities to localise epileptogenic tissue

BACKGROUND

When investigating suitability for epilepsy surgery, people with drug-refractory focal epilepsy may have intracranial EEG (iEEG) electrodes implanted to localise seizure onset. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) may be acquired to identify key white matter tracts for surgical avoidance. Here, we investigate whether structural connectivity abnormalities, inferred from dMRI, may be used in conjunction with functional iEEG abnormalities to aid localisation of the epileptogenic zone (EZ), improving surgical outcomes in epilepsy.

METHODS

We retrospectively investigated data from 43 patients (42% female) with epilepsy who had surgery following iEEG. Twenty-five patients (58%) were free from disabling seizures (ILAE 1 or 2) at one year. Interictal iEEG functional, and dMRI structural connectivity abnormalities were quantified by comparison to a normative map and healthy controls. We explored whether the resection of maximal abnormalities related to improved surgical outcomes, in both modalities individually and concurrently. Additionally, we suggest how connectivity abnormalities may inform the placement of iEEG electrodes pre-surgically using a patient case study.

FINDINGS

Seizure freedom was 15 times more likely in patients with resection of maximal connectivity and iEEG abnormalities (p = 0.008). Both modalities separately distinguished patient surgical outcome groups and when used simultaneously, a decision tree correctly separated 36 of 43 (84%) patients.

INTERPRETATION

Our results suggest that both connectivity and iEEG abnormalities may localise epileptogenic tissue, and that these two modalities may provide complementary information in pre-surgical evaluations.

FUNDING

This research was funded by UKRI, CDT in Cloud Computing for Big Data, NIH, MRC, Wellcome Trust and Epilepsy Research UK.

Predicting seizure outcome after epilepsy surgery: Do we need more complex models, larger samples, or better data?

OBJECTIVE

The accurate prediction of seizure freedom after epilepsy surgery remains challenging. We investigated if (1) training more complex models, (2) recruiting larger sample sizes, or (3) using data-driven selection of clinical predictors would improve our ability to predict postoperative seizure outcome using clinical features. We also conducted the first substantial external validation of a machine learning model trained to predict postoperative seizure outcome.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of 797 children who had undergone resective or disconnective epilepsy surgery at a tertiary center. We extracted patient information from medical records and trained three models-a logistic regression, a multilayer perceptron, and an XGBoost model-to predict 1-year postoperative seizure outcome on our data set. We evaluated the performance of a recently published XGBoost model on the same patients. We further investigated the impact of sample size on model performance, using learning curve analysis to estimate performance at samples up to N = 2000. Finally, we examined the impact of predictor selection on model performance.

RESULTS

Our logistic regression achieved an accuracy of 72% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 68%-75%, area under the curve [AUC] = .72), whereas our multilayer perceptron and XGBoost both achieved accuracies of 71% (95% CIMLP  = 67%-74%, AUCMLP  = .70; 95% CIXGBoost own  = 68%-75%, AUCXGBoost own  = .70). There was no significant difference in performance between our three models (all p > .4) and they all performed better than the external XGBoost, which achieved an accuracy of 63% (95% CI = 59%-67%, AUC = .62; pLR  = .005, pMLP  = .01, pXGBoost own  = .01) on our data. All models showed improved performance with increasing sample size, but limited improvements beyond our current sample. The best model performance was achieved with data-driven feature selection.

SIGNIFICANCE

We show that neither the deployment of complex machine learning models nor the assembly of thousands of patients alone is likely to generate significant improvements in our ability to predict postoperative seizure freedom. We instead propose that improved feature selection alongside collaboration, data standardization, and model sharing is required to advance the field.

Artificial Intelligence in Neurosurgery: A State-of-the-Art Review from Past to Future

In recent years, there has been a significant surge in discussions surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), along with a corresponding increase in its practical applications in various facets of everyday life, including the medical industry. Notably, even in the highly specialized realm of neurosurgery, AI has been utilized for differential diagnosis, pre-operative evaluation, and improving surgical precision. Many of these applications have begun to mitigate risks of intraoperative and postoperative complications and post-operative care. This article aims to present an overview of the principal published papers on the significant themes of tumor, spine, epilepsy, and vascular issues, wherein AI has been applied to assess its potential applications within neurosurgery. The method involved identifying high-cited seminal papers using PubMed and Google Scholar, conducting a comprehensive review of various study types, and summarizing machine learning applications to enhance understanding among clinicians for future utilization. Recent studies demonstrate that machine learning (ML) holds significant potential in neuro-oncological care, spine surgery, epilepsy management, and other neurosurgical applications. ML techniques have proven effective in tumor identification, surgical outcomes prediction, seizure outcome prediction, aneurysm prediction, and more, highlighting its broad impact and potential in improving patient management and outcomes in neurosurgery. This review will encompass the current state of research, as well as predictions for the future of AI within neurosurgery.

Relationships between neurotransmitter receptor densities and expression levels of their corresponding genes in the human hippocampus

Neurotransmitter receptors are key molecules in signal transmission, their alterations are associated with brain dysfunction. Relationships between receptors and their corresponding genes are poorly understood, especially in humans. We combined in vitro receptor autoradiography and RNA sequencing to quantify, in the same tissue samples (7 subjects), the densities of 14 receptors and expression levels of their corresponding 43 genes in the Cornu Ammonis (CA) and dentate gyrus (DG) of human hippocampus. Significant differences in receptor densities between both structures were found only for metabotropic receptors, whereas significant differences in RNA expression levels mostly pertained ionotropic receptors. Receptor fingerprints of CA and DG differ in shapes but have similar sizes; the opposite holds true for their "RNA fingerprints", which represent the expression levels of multiple genes in a single area. In addition, the correlation coefficients between receptor densities and corresponding gene expression levels vary widely and the mean correlation strength was weak-to-moderate. Our results suggest that receptor densities are not only controlled by corresponding RNA expression levels, but also by multiple regionally specific post-translational factors.

Pre-surgical features of intrinsic brain networks predict single and joint epilepsy surgery outcomes

Despite the effectiveness of surgical interventions for the treatment of intractable focal temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the substrates that support good outcomes are poorly understood. While algorithms have been developed for the prediction of either seizure or cognitive/psychiatric outcomes alone, no study has reported on the functional and structural architecture that supports joint outcomes. We measured key aspects of pre-surgical whole brain functional/structural network architecture and evaluated their ability to predict post-operative seizure control in combination with cognitive/psychiatric outcomes. Pre-surgically, we identified the intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) unique to each person through independent component analysis (ICA), and computed: (1) the spatial-temporal match between each person's ICA components and established, canonical ICNs, (2) the connectivity strength within each identified person-specific ICN, (3) the gray matter (GM) volume underlying the person-specific ICNs, and (4) the amount of variance not explained by the canonical ICNs for each person. Post-surgical seizure control and reliable change indices of change (for language [naming, phonemic fluency], verbal episodic memory, and depression) served as binary outcome responses in random forest (RF) models. The above functional and structural measures served as input predictors. Our empirically derived ICN-based measures customized to the individual showed that good joint seizure and cognitive/psychiatric outcomes depended upon higher levels of brain reserve (GM volume) in specific networks. In contrast, singular outcomes relied on systematic, idiosyncratic variance in the case of seizure control, and the weakened pre-surgical presence of functional ICNs that encompassed the ictal temporal lobe in the case of cognitive/psychiatric outcomes. Our data made clear that the ICNs differed in their propensity to provide reserve for adaptive outcomes, with some providing structural (brain), and others functional (cognitive) reserve. Our customized methodology demonstrated that when substantial unique, patient-specific ICNs are present prior to surgery there is a reliable association with poor post-surgical seizure control. These ICNs are idiosyncratic in that they did not match the canonical, normative ICNs and, therefore, could not be defined functionally, with their location likely varying by patient. This important finding suggested the level of highly individualized ICN's in the epileptic brain may signal the emergence of epileptogenic activity after surgery.

A convergent structure-function substrate of cognitive imbalances in autism

BACKGROUND

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental diagnosis showing substantial phenotypic heterogeneity. A leading example can be found in verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills, which vary from elevated to impaired compared with neurotypical individuals. Moreover, deficits in verbal profiles often coexist with normal or superior performance in the nonverbal domain.

METHODS

To study brain substrates underlying cognitive imbalance in ASD, we capitalized categorical and dimensional IQ profiling as well as multimodal neuroimaging.

RESULTS

IQ analyses revealed a marked verbal to nonverbal IQ imbalance in ASD across 2 datasets (Dataset-1: 155 ASD, 151 controls; Dataset-2: 270 ASD, 490 controls). Neuroimaging analysis in Dataset-1 revealed a structure-function substrate of cognitive imbalance, characterized by atypical cortical thickening and altered functional integration of language networks alongside sensory and higher cognitive areas.

CONCLUSION

Although verbal and nonverbal intelligence have been considered as specifiers unrelated to autism diagnosis, our results indicate that intelligence disparities are accentuated in ASD and reflected by a consistent structure-function substrate affecting multiple brain networks. Our findings motivate the incorporation of cognitive imbalances in future autism research, which may help to parse the phenotypic heterogeneity and inform intervention-oriented subtyping in ASD.

Machine Learning for Precision Epilepsy Surgery

Brain surgery offers the best chance of seizure-freedom for patients with focal drug-resistant epilepsy, but only 50% achieve sustained seizure-freedom. With the explosion of data collected during routine presurgical evaluations and recent advances in computational science, we now have a tremendous potential to achieve precision epilepsy surgery: a data-driven tailoring of surgical planning. This review highlights the clinical need, the relevant computational science focusing on machine learning, and discusses some specific applications in epilepsy surgery.

Hierarchical particle optimization for cortical shape correspondence in temporal lobe resection

BACKGROUND

Anterior temporal lobe resection is an effective treatment for temporal lobe epilepsy. The post-surgical structural changes could influence the follow-up treatment. Capturing post-surgical changes necessitates a well-established cortical shape correspondence between pre- and post-surgical surfaces. Yet, most cortical surface registration methods are designed for normal neuroanatomy. Surgical changes can introduce wide ranging artifacts in correspondence, for which conventional surface registration methods may not work as intended.

METHODS

In this paper, we propose a novel particle method for one-to-one dense shape correspondence between pre- and post-surgical surfaces with temporal lobe resection. The proposed method can handle partial structural abnormality involving non-rigid changes. Unlike existing particle methods using implicit particle adjacency, we consider explicit particle adjacency to establish a smooth correspondence. Moreover, we propose hierarchical optimization of particles rather than full optimization of all particles at once to avoid trappings of locally optimal particle update.

RESULTS

We evaluate the proposed method on 25 pairs of T1-MRI with pre- and post-simulated resection on the anterior temporal lobe and 25 pairs of patients with actual resection. We show improved accuracy over several cortical regions in terms of ROI boundary Hausdorff distance with 4.29 mm and Dice similarity coefficients with average value 0.841, compared to existing surface registration methods on simulated data. In 25 patients with actual resection of the anterior temporal lobe, our method shows an improved shape correspondence in qualitative and quantitative evaluation on parcellation-off ratio with average value 0.061 and cortical thickness changes. We also show better smoothness of the correspondence without self-intersection, compared with point-wise matching methods which show various degrees of self-intersection.

CONCLUSION

The proposed method establishes a promising one-to-one dense shape correspondence for temporal lobe resection. The resulting correspondence is smooth without self-intersection. The proposed hierarchical optimization strategy could accelerate optimization and improve the optimization accuracy. According to the results on the paired surfaces with temporal lobe resection, the proposed method outperforms the compared methods and is more reliable to capture cortical thickness changes.

Can Presurgical Interhemispheric EEG Connectivity Predict Outcome in Hemispheric Surgery? A Brain Machine Learning Approach

OBJECTIVES

Hemispherotomy (HT) is a surgical option for treatment of drug-resistant seizures due to hemispheric structural lesions. Factors affecting seizure outcome have not been fully clarified. In our study, we used a brain Machine Learning (ML) approach to evaluate the possible role of Inter-hemispheric EEG Connectivity (IC) in predicting post-surgical seizure outcome.

METHODS

We collected 21 pediatric patients with drug-resistant epilepsy; who underwent HT in our center from 2009 to 2020; with a follow-up of at least two years. We selected 5-s windows of wakefulness and sleep pre-surgical EEG and we trained Artificial Neuronal Network (ANN) to estimate epilepsy outcome. We extracted EEG features as input data and selected the ANN with best accuracy.

RESULTS

Among 21 patients, 15 (71%) were seizure and drug-free at last follow-up. ANN showed 73.3% of accuracy, with 85% of seizure free and 40% of non-seizure free patients appropriately classified.

CONCLUSIONS

The accuracy level that we reached supports the hypothesis that pre-surgical EEG features may have the potential to predict epilepsy outcome after HT.

SIGNIFICANCE

The role of pre-surgical EEG data in influencing seizure outcome after HT is still debated. We proposed a computational predictive model, with an ML approach, with a high accuracy level.

Mapping hippocampal glutamate in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with glutamate weighted CEST (GluCEST) imaging

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most common subtypes of focal epilepsy, with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) being a common radiological and histopathological finding. Accurate identification of MTS during presurgical evaluation confers an increased chance of good surgical outcome. Here we propose the use of glutamate-weighted chemical exchange saturation transfer (GluCEST) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 7 Tesla for mapping hippocampal glutamate distribution in epilepsy, allowing to differentiate lesional from non-lesional mesial TLE. We demonstrate that a directional asymmetry index, which quantifies the relative difference between GluCEST contrast in hippocampi ipsilateral and contralateral to the seizure onset zone, can differentiate between sclerotic and non-sclerotic hippocampi, even in instances where traditional presurgical MRI assessments did not provide evidence of sclerosis. Overall, our results suggest that hippocampal glutamate mapping through GluCEST imaging is a valuable addition to the presurgical epilepsy evaluation toolbox.

Network phenotypes and their clinical significance in temporal lobe epilepsy using machine learning applications to morphological and functional graph theory metrics

Machine learning analyses were performed on graph theory (GT) metrics extracted from brain functional and morphological data from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients in order to identify intrinsic network phenotypes and characterize their clinical significance. Participants were 97 TLE and 36 healthy controls from the Epilepsy Connectome Project. Each imaging modality (i.e., Resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (RS-fMRI), and structural MRI) rendered 2 clusters: one comparable to controls and one deviating from controls. Participants were minimally overlapping across the identified clusters, suggesting that an abnormal functional GT phenotype did not necessarily mean an abnormal morphological GT phenotype for the same subject. Morphological clusters were associated with a significant difference in the estimated lifetime number of generalized tonic-clonic seizures and functional cluster membership was associated with age. Furthermore, controls exhibited significant correlations between functional GT metrics and cognition, while for TLE participants morphological GT metrics were linked to cognition, suggesting a dissociation between higher cognitive abilities and GT-derived network measures. Overall, these findings demonstrate the existence of clinically meaningful minimally overlapping phenotypes of morphological and functional GT networks. Functional network properties may underlie variance in cognition in healthy brains, but in the pathological state of epilepsy the cognitive limits might be primarily related to structural cerebral network properties.

The Role of MRI in the Treatment of Drug-Resistant Focal Epilepsy

BACKGROUND

Epilepsy is a prevalent chronic condition affecting about 50 million people worldwide. A third of patients with focal epilepsy suffer from seizures unresponsive to medication. Uncontrolled seizures damage the brain, are associated with cognitive decline, and have negative impact on well-being. For these patients, the surgical resection of the brain region that gives rise to seizures is the most effective treatment.

SUMMARY

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a central role in detecting epileptogenic brain lesions. In this review, we critically discuss advances in neuroimaging acquisition, analytical post-acquisition techniques, and machine leaning methods for the detection of epileptogenic lesions, prediction of clinical outcomes, and identification of disease subtypes.

KEY MESSAGE

MRI is a mandatory investigation for diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, particularly when surgery is being considered. Continuous progress in imaging techniques, combined with machine learning, will continue to push the boundaries of lesion visibility and provide increasingly precise predictors of clinical outcomes. Current efforts aiming at strengthening the competences of epileptologists in neuroimaging will ultimately reduce the need for invasive diagnostics.

Topographic divergence of atypical cortical asymmetry and atrophy patterns in temporal lobe epilepsy

Temporal lobe epilepsy, a common drug-resistant epilepsy in adults, is primarily a limbic network disorder associated with predominant unilateral hippocampal pathology. Structural MRI has provided an in vivo window into whole-brain grey matter structural alterations in temporal lobe epilepsy relative to controls, by either mapping (i) atypical inter-hemispheric asymmetry; or (ii) regional atrophy. However, similarities and differences of both atypical asymmetry and regional atrophy measures have not been systematically investigated. Here, we addressed this gap using the multisite ENIGMA-Epilepsy dataset comprising MRI brain morphological measures in 732 temporal lobe epilepsy patients and 1418 healthy controls. We compared spatial distributions of grey matter asymmetry and atrophy in temporal lobe epilepsy, contextualized their topographies relative to spatial gradients in cortical microstructure and functional connectivity calculated using 207 healthy controls obtained from Human Connectome Project and an independent dataset containing 23 temporal lobe epilepsy patients and 53 healthy controls and examined clinical associations using machine learning. We identified a marked divergence in the spatial distribution of atypical inter-hemispheric asymmetry and regional atrophy mapping. The former revealed a temporo-limbic disease signature while the latter showed diffuse and bilateral patterns. Our findings were robust across individual sites and patients. Cortical atrophy was significantly correlated with disease duration and age at seizure onset, while degrees of asymmetry did not show a significant relationship to these clinical variables. Our findings highlight that the mapping of atypical inter-hemispheric asymmetry and regional atrophy tap into two complementary aspects of temporal lobe epilepsy-related pathology, with the former revealing primary substrates in ipsilateral limbic circuits and the latter capturing bilateral disease effects. These findings refine our notion of the neuropathology of temporal lobe epilepsy and may inform future discovery and validation of complementary MRI biomarkers in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Mechanisms for Cognitive Impairment in Epilepsy: Moving Beyond Seizures

There has been a major emphasis on defining the role of seizures in the causation of cognitive impairments like memory deficits in epilepsy. Here we focus on an alternative hypothesis behind these deficits, emphasizing the mechanisms of information processing underlying healthy cognition characterized as rate, temporal and population coding. We discuss the role of the underlying etiology of epilepsy in altering neural networks thereby leading to both the propensity for seizures and the associated cognitive impairments. In addition, we address potential treatments that can recover the network function in the context of a diseased brain, thereby improving both seizure and cognitive outcomes simultaneously. This review shows the importance of moving beyond seizures and approaching the deficits from a system-level perspective with the guidance of network neuroscience.

Neuroimaging gradient alterations and epileptogenic prediction in focal cortical dysplasia Ⅲa

INTRODUCTION

Focal cortical dysplasia Type Ⅲa (FCD Ⅲa) is a highly prevalent temporal lobe epilepsy but the seizure outcomes are not satisfactory after epilepsy surgery. Hence, quantitative neuroimaging, epileptogenic alterations, as well as their values in guiding surgery are worth exploring.

METHODS

We examined 69 patients with pathologically verified FCD Ⅲa using multimodal neuroimaging and stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG). Among them, 18 received postoperative imaging which showed the extent of surgical resection and 9 underwent SEEG implantation. We also explored neuroimaging gradient alterations along with the distance to the temporal pole. Subsequently, the machine learning regression model was employed to predict whole-brain epileptogenicity. Lastly, the correlation between neuroimaging or epileptogenicity and surgical cavities was assessed.

RESULTS

FCD Ⅲa displayed neuroimaging gradient alterations on the temporal neocortex, morphology-signal intensity decoupling, low similarity of intra-morphological features and high similarity of intra-signal intensity features. The support vector regression model was successfully applied at the whole-brain level to calculate the continuous epileptogenic value at each vertex (mean-squared error = 13.8 ± 9.8).

CONCLUSION

Our study investigated the neuroimaging gradient alterations and epileptogenicity of FCD Ⅲa, along with their potential values in guiding suitable resection range and in predicting postoperative seizure outcomes. The conclusions from this study may facilitate an accurate presurgical examination of FCD Ⅲa. However, further investigation including a larger cohort is necessary to confirm the results.

Multimodal connectome biomarkers of cognitive and affective dysfunction in the common epilepsies

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological conditions, traditionally defined as a disorder of recurrent seizures. Cognitive and affective dysfunction are increasingly recognized as core disease dimensions and can affect patient well-being, sometimes more than the seizures themselves. Connectome-based approaches hold immense promise for revealing mechanisms that contribute to dysfunction and to identify biomarkers. Our review discusses emerging multimodal neuroimaging and connectomics studies that highlight network substrates of cognitive/affective dysfunction in the common epilepsies. We first discuss work in drug-resistant epilepsy syndromes, that is, temporal lobe epilepsy, related to mesiotemporal sclerosis (TLE), and extratemporal epilepsy (ETE), related to malformations of cortical development. While these are traditionally conceptualized as ‘focal’ epilepsies, many patients present with broad structural and functional anomalies. Moreover, the extent of distributed changes contributes to difficulties in multiple cognitive domains as well as affective-behavioral challenges. We also review work in idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE), a subset of generalized epilepsy syndromes that involve subcortico-cortical circuits. Overall, neuroimaging and network neuroscience studies point to both shared and syndrome-specific connectome signatures of dysfunction across TLE, ETE, and IGE. Lastly, we point to current gaps in the literature and formulate recommendations for future research.

Epilepsy is increasingly recognized as a network disorder characterized by recurrent seizures as well as broad-ranging cognitive difficulties and affective dysfunction. Our manuscript reviews recent literature highlighting brain network substrates of cognitive and affective dysfunction in common epilepsy syndromes, namely temporal lobe epilepsy secondary to mesiotemporal sclerosis, extratemporal epilepsy secondary to malformations of cortical development, and idiopathic generalized epilepsy syndromes arising from subcortico-cortical pathophysiology. We discuss prior work that has indicated both shared and distinct brain network signatures of cognitive and affective dysfunction across the epilepsy spectrum, improves our knowledge of structure-function links and interindividual heterogeneity, and ultimately aids screening and monitoring of therapeutic strategies.

Machine Learning-Derived Multimodal Neuroimaging of Presurgical Target Area to Predict Individual's Seizure Outcomes After Epilepsy Surgery

Objectives: Half of the patients who have tailored resection of the suspected epileptogenic zone for drug-resistant epilepsy have recurrent postoperative seizures. Although neuroimaging has become an indispensable part of delineating the epileptogenic zone, no validated method uses neuroimaging of presurgical target area to predict an individual's post-surgery seizure outcome. We aimed to develop and validate a machine learning-powered approach incorporating multimodal neuroimaging of a presurgical target area to predict an individual's post-surgery seizure outcome in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. Materials and Methods: One hundred and forty-one patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy were classified either as having seizure-free (Engel class I) or seizure-recurrence (Engel class II through IV) at least 1 year after surgery. The presurgical magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, computed tomography, and postsurgical magnetic resonance imaging were co-registered for surgical target volume of interest (VOI) segmentation; all VOIs were decomposed into nine fixed views, then were inputted into the deep residual network (DRN) that was pretrained on Tiny-ImageNet dataset to extract and transfer deep features. A multi-kernel support vector machine (MKSVM) was used to integrate multiple views of feature sets and to predict seizure outcomes of the targeted VOIs. Leave-one-out validation was applied to develop a model for verifying the prediction. In the end, performance using this approach was assessed by calculating accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated, and the optimal area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated as a metric for classifying outcomes. Results: Application of DRN-MKSVM model based on presurgical target area neuroimaging demonstrated good performance in predicting seizure outcomes. The AUC ranged from 0.799 to 0.952. Importantly, the classification performance DRN-MKSVM model using data from multiple neuroimaging showed an accuracy of 91.5%, a sensitivity of 96.2%, a specificity of 85.5%, and AUCs of 0.95, which were significantly better than any other single-modal neuroimaging (all p ˂ 0.05). Conclusion: DRN-MKSVM, using multimodal compared with unimodal neuroimaging from the surgical target area, accurately predicted postsurgical outcomes. The preoperative individualized prediction of seizure outcomes in patients who have been judged eligible for epilepsy surgery could be conveniently facilitated. This may aid epileptologists in presurgical evaluation by providing a tool to explore various surgical options, offering complementary information to existing clinical techniques.

Machine learning applications on neuroimaging for diagnosis and prognosis of epilepsy: A review

Machine learning is playing an increasingly important role in medical image analysis, spawning new advances in the clinical application of neuroimaging. There have been some reviews on machine learning and epilepsy before, and they mainly focused on electrophysiological signals such as electroencephalography (EEG) and stereo electroencephalography (SEEG), while neglecting the potential of neuroimaging in epilepsy research. Neuroimaging has its important advantages in confirming the range of the epileptic region, which is essential in presurgical evaluation and assessment after surgery. However, it is difficult for EEG to locate the accurate epilepsy lesion region in the brain. In this review, we emphasize the interaction between neuroimaging and machine learning in the context of epilepsy diagnosis and prognosis. We start with an overview of epilepsy and typical neuroimaging modalities used in epilepsy clinics, MRI, DWI, fMRI, and PET. Then, we elaborate two approaches in applying machine learning methods to neuroimaging data: (i) the conventional machine learning approach combining manual feature engineering and classifiers, (ii) the deep learning approach, such as the convolutional neural networks and autoencoders. Subsequently, the application of machine learning on epilepsy neuroimaging, such as segmentation, localization, and lateralization tasks, as well as tasks directly related to diagnosis and prognosis are looked into in detail. Finally, we discuss the current achievements, challenges, and potential future directions in this field, hoping to pave the way for computer-aided diagnosis and prognosis of epilepsy.

Machine Learning in Neuro-Oncology, Epilepsy, Alzheimer's Disease, and Schizophrenia

Applications of machine learning (ML) in translational medicine include therapeutic drug creation, diagnostic development, surgical planning, outcome prediction, and intraoperative assistance. Opportunities in the neurosciences are rich given advancement in our understanding of the brain, expanding indications for intervention, and diagnostic challenges often characterized by multiple clinical and environmental factors. We present a review of ML in neuro-oncology, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia to highlight recent progression in these field, optimizing machine learning capabilities in their current forms. Supervised learning models appear to be the most commonly incorporated algorithm models for machine learning across the reviewed neuroscience disciplines with primary aim of diagnosis. Accuracy ranges are high from 63% to 99% across all algorithms investigated. Machine learning contributions to neurosurgery, neurology, psychiatry, and the clinical and basic science neurosciences may enhance current medical best practices while also broadening our understanding of dynamic neural networks and the brain.

Decomposing MRI phenotypic heterogeneity in epilepsy: a step towards personalized classification

In drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), precise predictions of drug response, surgical outcome, and cognitive dysfunction at an individual level remain challenging. A possible explanation may lie in the dominant "one-size-fits-all" group-level analytical approaches that does not allow parsing inter-individual variations along the disease spectrum. Conversely, analyzing inter-patient heterogeneity is increasingly recognized as a step towards person-centered care. Here, we utilized unsupervised machine learning to estimate latent relations (or disease factors) from 3 T multimodal MRI features (cortical thickness, hippocampal volume, FLAIR, T1/FLAIR, diffusion parameters) representing whole-brain patterns of structural pathology in 82 TLE patients. We assessed the specificity of our approach against age- and sex-matched healthy individuals and a cohort of frontal lobe epilepsy patients with histologically-verified focal cortical dysplasia. We identified four latent disease factors variably co-expressed within each patient and characterized by ipsilateral hippocampal microstructural alterations, loss of myelin and atrophy (Factor-1), bilateral paralimbic and hippocampal gliosis (Factor-2), bilateral neocortical atrophy (Factor-3), bilateral white matter microstructural alterations (Factor-4). Bootstrap analysis and parameter variations supported high stability and robustness of these factors. Moreover, they were not expressed in healthy controls and only negligibly in disease controls, supporting specificity. Supervised classifiers trained on latent disease factors could predict patient-specific drug-response in 76 ± 3% and postsurgical seizure outcome in 88 ± 2%, outperforming classifiers that did not operate on latent factor information. Latent factor models predicted inter-patient variability in cognitive dysfunction (verbal IQ: r = 0.40 ± 0.03; memory: r = 0.35 ± 0.03; sequential motor tapping: r = 0.36 ± 0.04), again outperforming baseline learners. Data-driven analysis of disease factors provides a novel appraisal of the continuum of interindividual variability, which is likely determined by multiple interacting pathological processes. Incorporating interindividual variability is likely to improve clinical prognostics.

The many dimensions of human hippocampal organization and (dys)function

The internal organization of hippocampal formation has been studied for more than a century. Although early accounts emphasized its subfields along the medial-lateral axis, findings in recent decades have highlighted also the anterior-to-posterior (i.e., longitudinal) axis as a key contributor to this brain region's functional organization. Hence, understanding of hippocampal function likely demands characterizing both medial-to-lateral and anterior-to-posterior axes, an approach that has been concretized by recent advances in in vivo parcellation and gradient mapping techniques. Following a short historical overview, we review the evidence provided by these approaches in brain-mapping studies, as well as the perspectives they open for addressing the behavioral relevance of the interacting organizational axes in healthy and clinical populations.

MRI-Based Machine Learning Prediction Framework to Lateralize Hippocampal Sclerosis in Patients With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

MRI fails to reveal hippocampal pathology in 30% to 50% of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgical candidates. To address this clinical challenge, we developed an automated MRI-based classifier that lateralizes the side of covert hippocampal pathology in TLE.

METHODS

We trained a surface-based linear discriminant classifier that uses T1-weighted (morphology) and T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR)/T1 (intensity) features. The classifier was trained on 60 patients with TLE (mean age 35.6 years, 58% female) with histologically verified hippocampal sclerosis (HS). Images were deemed to be MRI negative in 42% of cases on the basis of neuroradiologic reading (40% based on hippocampal volumetry). The predictive model automatically labeled patients as having left or right TLE. Lateralization accuracy was compared to electroclinical data, including side of surgery. Accuracy of the classifier was further assessed in 2 independent TLE cohorts with similar demographics and electroclinical characteristics (n = 57, 58% MRI negative).

RESULTS

The overall lateralization accuracy was 93% (95% confidence interval 92%-94%), regardless of HS visibility. In MRI-negative TLE, the combination of T2 and FLAIR/T1 intensities provided the highest accuracy in both the training (84%, area under the curve [AUC] 0.95 ± 0.02) and validation (cohort 1 90%, AUC 0.99; cohort 2 76%, AUC 0.94) cohorts.

DISCUSSION

This prediction model for TLE lateralization operates on readily available conventional MRI contrasts and offers gain in accuracy over visual radiologic assessment. The combined contribution of decreased T1- and increased T2-weighted intensities makes the synthetic FLAIR/T1 contrast particularly effective in MRI-negative HS, setting the basis for broad clinical translation.

CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE

This study provides Class II evidence that in people with TLE and MRI-negative HS, an automated MRI-based classifier accurately determines the side of pathology.

Machine learning models for decision support in epilepsy management: A critical review

PURPOSE

There remain major challenges for the clinician in managing patients with epilepsy effectively. Choosing anti-seizure medications (ASMs) is subject to trial and error. About one-third of patients have drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Surgery may be considered for selected patients, but time from diagnosis to surgery averages 20 years. We reviewed the potential use of machine learning (ML) predictive models as clinical decision support tools to help address some of these issues.

METHODS

We conducted a comprehensive search of Medline and Embase of studies that investigated the application of ML in epilepsy management in terms of predicting ASM responsiveness, predicting DRE, identifying surgical candidates, and predicting epilepsy surgery outcomes. Original articles addressing these 4 areas published in English between 2000 and 2020 were included.

RESULTS

We identified 24 relevant articles: 6 on ASM responsiveness, 3 on DRE prediction, 2 on identifying surgical candidates, and 13 on predicting surgical outcomes. A variety of potential predictors were used including clinical, neuropsychological, imaging, electroencephalography, and health system claims data. A number of different ML algorithms and approaches were used for prediction, but only one study utilized deep learning methods. Some models show promising performance with areas under the curve above 0.9. However, most were single setting studies (18 of 24) with small sample sizes (median number of patients 55), with the exception of 3 studies that utilized large databases and 3 studies that performed external validation. There was a lack of standardization in reporting model performance. None of the models reviewed have been prospectively evaluated for their clinical benefits.

CONCLUSION

The utility of ML models for clinical decision support in epilepsy management remains to be determined. Future research should be directed toward conducting larger studies with external validation, standardization of reporting, and prospective evaluation of the ML model on patient outcomes.

The BigBrainWarp toolbox for integration of BigBrain 3D histology with multimodal neuroimaging

Neuroimaging stands to benefit from emerging ultrahigh-resolution 3D histological atlases of the human brain; the first of which is 'BigBrain'. Here, we review recent methodological advances for the integration of BigBrain with multi-modal neuroimaging and introduce a toolbox, 'BigBrainWarp', that combines these developments. The aim of BigBrainWarp is to simplify workflows and support the adoption of best practices. This is accomplished with a simple wrapper function that allows users to easily map data between BigBrain and standard MRI spaces. The function automatically pulls specialised transformation procedures, based on ongoing research from a wide collaborative network of researchers. Additionally, the toolbox improves accessibility of histological information through dissemination of ready-to-use cytoarchitectural features. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of BigBrainWarp with three tutorials and discuss the potential of the toolbox to support multi-scale investigations of brain organisation.

Artificial intelligence for classification of temporal lobe epilepsy with ROI-level MRI data: A worldwide ENIGMA-Epilepsy study

Artificial intelligence has recently gained popularity across different medical fields to aid in the detection of diseases based on pathology samples or medical imaging findings. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a key assessment tool for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The role of machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase detection of brain abnormalities in TLE remains inconclusive. We used support vector machine (SV) and deep learning (DL) models based on region of interest (ROI-based) structural (n = 336) and diffusion (n = 863) brain MRI data from patients with TLE with ("lesional") and without ("non-lesional") radiographic features suggestive of underlying hippocampal sclerosis from the multinational (multi-center) ENIGMA-Epilepsy consortium. Our data showed that models to identify TLE performed better or similar (68-75%) compared to models to lateralize the side of TLE (56-73%, except structural-based) based on diffusion data with the opposite pattern seen for structural data (67-75% to diagnose vs. 83% to lateralize). In other aspects, structural and diffusion-based models showed similar classification accuracies. Our classification models for patients with hippocampal sclerosis were more accurate (68-76%) than models that stratified non-lesional patients (53-62%). Overall, SV and DL models performed similarly with several instances in which SV mildly outperformed DL. We discuss the relative performance of these models with ROI-level data and the implications for future applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence in epilepsy care.

Association of Epilepsy Surgery With Changes in Imaging-Defined Brain Age

Objective

To determine whether surgery in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) is associated with reduced brain-predicted age as a neural marker overall brain health, we compared brain-predicted and chronologic age difference (brain age gap estimation [BrainAGE]) in patients before and after surgery with healthy controls.

Methods

We acquired 3D T1-weighted MRI scans for 48 patients with mTLE before and after temporal lobe surgery to estimate brain age using a gaussian processes regression model. We examined BrainAGE before and after surgery controlling for brain volume change, comparing patients to 37 age- and sex-matched controls.

Results

Preoperatively, patients showed an increased BrainAGE of more than 7 years compared to controls. However, surgery was associated with a mean BrainAGE reduction of 5 years irrespective of whether or not surgery resulted in complete seizure freedom. We observed a lateralization effect as patients with left mTLE had BrainAGE values that more closely resembled control group values following surgery.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that while morphologic brain alterations linked to accelerated aging have been observed in mTLE, surgery may be associated with changes that reverse such alterations in some patients. This work highlights the advantages of resective surgery on overall brain health in patients with refractory focal epilepsy.

Clinical Application of Machine Learning Models for Brain Imaging in Epilepsy: A Review

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent and disabling seizures. An increasing number of clinical and experimental applications of machine learning (ML) methods for epilepsy and other neurological and psychiatric disorders are available. ML methods have the potential to provide a reliable and optimal performance for clinical diagnoses, prediction, and personalized medicine by using mathematical algorithms and computational approaches. There are now several applications of ML for epilepsy, including neuroimaging analyses. For precise and reliable clinical applications in epilepsy and neuroimaging, the diverse ML methodologies should be examined and validated. We review the clinical applications of ML models for brain imaging in epilepsy obtained from a PubMed database search in February 2021. We first present an overview of typical neuroimaging modalities and ML models used in the epilepsy studies and then focus on the existing applications of ML models for brain imaging in epilepsy based on the following clinical aspects: (i) distinguishing individuals with epilepsy from healthy controls, (ii) lateralization of the temporal lobe epilepsy focus, (iii) the identification of epileptogenic foci, (iv) the prediction of clinical outcomes, and (v) brain-age prediction. We address the practical problems and challenges described in the literature and suggest some future research directions.

Structural Connectivity Gradients of the Temporal Lobe Serve as Multiscale Axes of Brain Organization and Cortical Evolution

The temporal lobe is implicated in higher cognitive processes and is one of the regions that underwent substantial reorganization during primate evolution. Its functions are instantiated, in part, by the complex layout of its structural connections. Here, we identified low-dimensional representations of structural connectivity variations in human temporal cortex and explored their microstructural underpinnings and associations to macroscale function. We identified three eigenmodes which described gradients in structural connectivity. These gradients reflected inter-regional variations in cortical microstructure derived from quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and postmortem histology. Gradient-informed models accurately predicted macroscale measures of temporal lobe function. Furthermore, the identified gradients aligned closely with established measures of functional reconfiguration and areal expansion between macaques and humans, highlighting their potential role in shaping temporal lobe function throughout primate evolution. Findings were replicated in several datasets. Our results provide robust evidence for three axes of structural connectivity in human temporal cortex with consistent microstructural underpinnings and contributions to large-scale brain network function.

Intracranial brain stimulation modulates fMRI-based network switching

The extent to which functional MRI (fMRI) reflects direct neuronal changes remains unknown. Using 160 simultaneous electrical stimulation (es-fMRI) and intracranial brain stimulation recordings acquired in 26 individuals with epilepsy (with varying electrode locations), we tested whether brain networks dynamically change during intracranial brain stimulation, aiming to establish whether switching between brain networks is reduced after intracranial brain stimulation. As the brain spontaneously switches between a repertoire of intrinsic functional network configurations and the rate of switching is likely increased in epilepsy, we hypothesised that intracranial stimulation would reduce the brain's switching rate, thus potentially normalising aberrant brain network dynamics. To test this hypothesis, we quantified the rate that brain regions changed networks over time in response to brain stimulation, using network switching applied to multilayer modularity analysis of time-resolved es-fMRI connectivity. Network switching and synchrony was decreased after the first brain stimulation, followed by a more consistent pattern of network switching over time. This change was commonly observed in cortical networks and adjacent to the electrode targets. Our results suggest that neuronal perturbation is likely to modulate large-scale brain networks, and multilayer network modelling may be used to inform the clinical efficacy of brain stimulation in epilepsy.

In-depth characterization of a mouse model of post-traumatic epilepsy for biomarker and drug discovery

Post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) accounts for 5% of all epilepsies and 10–20% of the acquired forms. The latency between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and epilepsy onset in high-risk patients offers a therapeutic window for intervention to prevent or improve the disease course. However, progress towards effective treatments has been hampered by the lack of sensitive prognostic biomarkers of PTE, and of therapeutic targets. There is therefore a pressing clinical need for preclinical PTE models suitable for biomarker discovery and drug testing. We characterized in-depth a model of severe TBI induced by controlled cortical impact evolving into PTE in CD1 adult male mice. To identify sensitive measures predictive of PTE development and severity, TBI mice were longitudinally monitored by video-electrocorticography (ECoG), examined by MRI, and tested for sensorimotor and cognitive deficits and locomotor activity. At the end of the video-ECoG recording mice were killed for brain histological analysis. PTE occurred in 58% of mice with frequent motor seizures (one seizure every other day), as determined up to 5 months post-TBI. The weight loss of PTE mice in 1 week after TBI correlated with the number of spontaneous seizures at 5 months. Moreover, the recovery rate of the sensorimotor deficit detected by the SNAP test before the predicted time of epilepsy onset was significantly lower in PTE mice than in those without epilepsy. Neuroscore, beam walk and cognitive deficit were similar in all TBI mice. The increase in the contusion volume, the volume of forebrain regions contralateral to the lesioned hemisphere and white matter changes over time assessed by MRI were similar in PTE and no-PTE mice. However, brain histology showed a more pronounced neuronal cell loss in the cortex and hippocampus contralateral to the injured hemisphere in PTE than in no-PTE mice. The extensive functional and neuropathological characterization of this TBI model, provides a tool to identify sensitive measures of epilepsy development and severity clinically useful for increasing PTE prediction in high-risk TBI patients. The high PTE incidence and spontaneous seizures frequency in mice provide an ideal model for biomarker discovery and for testing new drugs.

Neuroimaging Phenotyping and Assessment of Structural-Metabolic-Electrophysiological Alterations in the Temporal Neocortex of Focal Cortical Dysplasia IIIa

BACKGROUND

Focal cortical dysplasia IIIa (FCD IIIa) is a common histopathological finding in temporal lobe epilepsy. However, subtle alterations in the temporal neocortex of FCD IIIa renders presurgical diagnosis and definition of the resective range challenging.

PURPOSE

To explore neuroimaging phenotyping and structural-metabolic-electrophysiological alterations in FCD IIIa.

STUDY TYPE

Retrospective.

SUBJECTS

One hundred and sixty-seven subjects aged 4-39 years, including 64 FCD IIIa patients, 89 healthy controls and 14 FCD I patients as disease controls.

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE

3 T, fast-spin-echo T₂ -weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), synthetic T₁ -weighted magnetization prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo (MPRAGE).

ASSESSMENT

Surface-based linear model was applied to reveal neuroimaging phenotyping in FCD IIIa and assess its relationship with clinical variables. Logistic regression was implemented to identify FCD IIIa patients. Epileptogenicity mapping (EM) was conducted to explore the structural-metabolic-electrophysiological alterations in temporal neocortex of FCD IIIa.

STATISTICAL TESTS

Student's t-test was applied to determine the significance of paired differences. Calibration curves were plotted to assess the goodness-of-fit (GOF) of the models, combined with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test.

RESULTS

FCD IIIa exhibited widespread hyperintensities in temporal neocortex, and these alterations correlated with disease duration (P_uncorrected  < 0.01). Machine learning model accurately identified 84.4% of FCD IIIa patients, 92.1% of healthy controls and 92.9% of FCD I patients. Cross-modality analysis showed a significant negative correlation between FLAIR hyperintensity and positron emission tomography hypometabolism P < 0.01). Furthermore, epileptogenic cortices were located predominantly in brain regions with FLAIR hyperintensity and hypometabolism.

DATA CONCLUSION

FCD IIIa exhibited widespread temporal neocortex FLAIR hyperintensity. Automated machine learning of neuroimaging patterns is conducive for accurate identification of FCD IIIa. The degree and distribution of morphological alterations related to the extent of metabolic and epileptogenic abnormalities, lending support to its potential value for reduction of the radiative and invasive approaches during presurgical workup.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2.

Automated fusion of multimodal imaging data for identifying epileptogenic lesions in patients with inconclusive magnetic resonance imaging

Many methods applied to data acquired by various imaging modalities have been evaluated for their benefit in localizing lesions in magnetic resonance (MR) negative epilepsy patients. No approach has proven to be a stand-alone method with sufficiently high sensitivity and specificity. The presented study addresses the potential benefit of the automated fusion of results of individual methods in presurgical evaluation. We collected electrophysiological, MR, and nuclear imaging data from 137 patients with pharmacoresistant MR-negative/inconclusive focal epilepsy. A subgroup of 32 patients underwent surgical treatment with known postsurgical outcomes and histopathology. We employed a Gaussian mixture model to reveal several classes of gray matter tissue. Classes specific to epileptogenic tissue were identified and validated using the surgery subgroup divided into two disjoint sets. We evaluated the classification accuracy of the proposed method at a voxel-wise level and assessed the effect of individual methods. The training of the classifier resulted in six classes of gray matter tissue. We found a subset of two classes specific to tissue located in resected areas. The average classification accuracy (i.e., the probability of correct classification) was significantly higher than the level of chance in the training group (0.73) and even better in the validation surgery subgroup (0.82). Nuclear imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, and source localization of interictal epileptic discharges were the strongest methods for classification accuracy. We showed that the automatic fusion of results can identify brain areas that show epileptogenic gray matter tissue features. The method might enhance the presurgical evaluations of MR-negative epilepsy patients.

Atypical neural topographies underpin dysfunctional pattern separation in temporal lobe epilepsy

Episodic memory is the ability to accurately remember events from our past. The process of pattern separation is hypothesized to underpin this ability and is defined as the ability to orthogonalize memory traces, to maximize the features that make them unique. Contemporary cognitive neuroscience suggests that pattern separation entails complex interactions between the hippocampus and the neocortex, where specific hippocampal subregions shape neural reinstatement in the neocortex. To test this hypothesis, the current work studied both healthy controls and patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) who present with hippocampal structural anomalies. In all participants, we measured neural activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they retrieved memorized items compared to lure items which share features with the target. Behaviorally, TLE patients were less able to exclude lures than controls, and showed a reduction in pattern separation. To assess the hypothesized relationship between neural patterns in the hippocampus and the neocortex, we identified topographic gradients of intrinsic connectivity along neocortical and hippocampal subfield surfaces and identified the topographic profile of the neural activity accompanying pattern separation. In healthy controls, pattern separation followed a graded pattern of neural activity, both along the hippocampal long axis (and peaked in anterior segments that are more heavily engaged in transmodal processing) and along the neocortical hierarchy running from unimodal to transmodal regions (peaking in transmodal default mode regions). In TLE patients, however, this concordance between task-based functional activations and topographic gradients was markedly reduced. Furthermore, person specific measures of concordance between task-related activity and connectivity gradients in patients and controls related to inter-individual differences in behavioral measures of pattern separation and episodic memory, highlighting the functional relevance of the observed topographic motifs. Our work is consistent with an emerging understanding that successful discrimination between memories with similar features entails a shift in the locus of neural activity away from sensory systems, a pattern that is mirrored along the hippocampal long axis and with respect to neocortical hierarchies. More broadly, our study establishes topographic profiling using intrinsic connectivity gradients captures the functional underpinnings of episodic memory processes in manner that is sensitive to their reorganization in pathology.

Diagnostic Performance of MRI Volumetry in Epilepsy Patients With Hippocampal Sclerosis Supported Through a Random Forest Automatic Classification Algorithm

Introduction: Several methods offer free volumetry services for MR data that adequately quantify volume differences in the hippocampus and its subregions. These methods are frequently used to assist in clinical diagnosis of suspected hippocampal sclerosis in temporal lobe epilepsy. A strong association between severity of histopathological anomalies and hippocampal volumes was reported using MR volumetry with a higher diagnostic yield than visual examination alone. Interpretation of volumetry results is challenging due to inherent methodological differences and to the reported variability of hippocampal volume. Furthermore, normal morphometric differences are recognized in diverse populations that may need consideration. To address this concern, we highlighted procedural discrepancies including atlas definition and computation of total intracranial volume that may impact volumetry results. We aimed to quantify diagnostic performance and to propose reference values for hippocampal volume from two well-established techniques: FreeSurfer v.06 and volBrain-HIPS.

Methods: Volumetry measures were calculated using clinical T1 MRI from a local population of 61 healthy controls and 57 epilepsy patients with confirmed unilateral hippocampal sclerosis. We further validated the results by a state-of-the-art machine learning classification algorithm (Random Forest) computing accuracy and feature relevance to distinguish between patients and controls. This validation process was performed using the FreeSurfer dataset alone, considering morphometric values not only from the hippocampus but also from additional non-hippocampal brain regions that could be potentially relevant for group classification. Mean reference values and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for left and right hippocampi along with hippocampal asymmetry degree to test diagnostic accuracy.

Results: Both methods showed excellent classification performance (AUC:> 0.914) with noticeable differences in absolute (cm³) and normalized volumes. Hippocampal asymmetry was the most accurate discriminator from all estimates (AUC:1~0.97). Similar results were achieved in the validation test with an automatic classifier (AUC:>0.960), disclosing hippocampal structures as the most relevant features for group differentiation among other brain regions.

Conclusion: We calculated reference volumetry values from two commonly used methods to accurately identify patients with temporal epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis. Validation with an automatic classifier confirmed the principal role of the hippocampus and its subregions for diagnosis.

Emerging Trends in Neuroimaging of Epilepsy

Neuroimaging techniques, particularly magnetic resonance imaging, yield increasingly sophisticated markers of brain structure and function. Combined with ongoing developments in machine learning, these methods refine our abilities to detect subtle epileptogenic lesions and develop reliable prognostics.

Duration-dependent extensive volume and shape changes of mesolimbic structures in surgically treated unilateral patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

PURPOSE

Although surgical treatment of drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) has proven efficacy, surgical referrals are often delayed. Knowledge of the abnormalities of mesolimbic structures beyond the hippocampus may be important for patients with MTLE because of its usefulness in the understanding of progressive disabilities in affected structures. This study aimed to identify volume and shape changes of mesolimbic structures in surgically treated patients with unilateral MTLE and their correlation with various clinical parameters.

METHODS

Twenty-four patients with unilateral MTLE (12 with left MTLE [LMTLE] and 12 with right MTLE [RMTLE]) who were surgically treated with standard temporal lobectomy, including amygdalohippocampectomy, and 24 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were enrolled. Preoperatively, volumetric analysis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 27 mesolimbic substructures (11 from each hemisphere and 5 from the midline) was performed. We also investigated the three-dimensional morphometric differences of the mesolimbic structures between the unilateral MTLE and control groups using shape analyses.

RESULTS

Patients with LMTLE showed significant volume reductions in various ipsilateral mesolimbic (72.7%, 8/11) and contralateral structures (27.3%, 3/11). Patients with RMTLE had also significant reduced volumes in ipsilateral (63.6%, 7/11) and contralateral structures (73.3%, 3/11). Among the clinical parameters, only the duration of epilepsy had a statistically significant inverse correlation with the volumes of the hippocampus, parahippocampus, entorhinal cortex, cingulate, and corpus callosum. In the shape analysis of the bilateral hippocampus, amygdala, parahippocampus, and entorhinal cortex, after accounting for the effects of age and total intracranial volume, significant shape changes in the anterolateral area of the ipsilateral hippocampus were noted, which corresponds to the cornu ammonis (CA)1 and subiculum of the hippocampus.

CONCLUSIONS

The extensive volume reductions in the multiple mesolimbic structures and the substantial inverse correlation between the duration of epilepsy and the volumes of the various mesolimbic structures in our study supports that MTLE is not restricted to the hippocampus, but it progressively involves extensive mesolimbic structures. The duration-dependent atrophic changes in multiple subcortical structures seen in this study also suggest a positive role of early surgical intervention for patients with drug-resistant TLE.

Neuroimaging-based brain-age prediction in diverse forms of epilepsy: a signature of psychosis and beyond

Epilepsy is a diverse brain disorder, and the pathophysiology of its various forms and comorbidities is largely unknown. A recent machine learning method enables us to estimate an individual's "brain-age" from MRI; this brain-age prediction is expected as a novel individual biomarker of neuropsychiatric disorders. The aims of this study were to estimate the brain-age for various categories of epilepsy and to evaluate clinical discrimination by brain-age for (1) the effect of psychosis on temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), (2) psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) from MRI-negative epilepsies, and (3) progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME) from juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). In total, 1196 T1-weighted MRI scans from healthy controls (HCs) were used to build a brain-age prediction model with support vector regression. Using the model, we calculated the brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD: predicted age-chronological age) of the HCs and 318 patients with epilepsy. We compared the brain-PAD values based on the research questions. As a result, all categories of patients except for extra-temporal lobe focal epilepsy showed a significant increase in brain-PAD. TLE with hippocampal sclerosis presented a significantly higher brain-PAD than several other categories. The mean brain-PAD in TLE with inter-ictal psychosis was 10.9 years, which was significantly higher than TLE without psychosis (5.3 years). PNES showed a comparable mean brain-PAD (10.6 years) to that of epilepsy patients. PME had a higher brain-PAD than JME (22.0 vs. 9.3 years). In conclusion, neuroimaging-based brain-age prediction can provide novel insight into or clinical usefulness for the diverse symptoms of epilepsy.

[Structural heterogeneity of epileptic foci in local drug-resistant epilepsy]

BACKGROUND

To study etiopathogenesis is one of the most important tasks of modern neurology. Various types of structural changes occur in drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE); however, they are described as distinct phenomena.

OBJECTIVE

To provide a comprehensive characterization of structural changes in the cortex and adjacent white matter in the electrophysiological activity zone (in the epileptic focus) in patients undergoing surgery for DRE.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Biopsy material of fragments of the temporal lobe and hippocampus from 16 patients aged 21 to 54 years (mean age, 25 years) with DRE were intraoperatively obtained at the Prof. A.L. Polenov Russian Research Institute of Neurosurgery. The investigators studied histological sections stained with H&E, toluidine blue according to the Nissl method and the Spielmeyer method, as well as the results of immunohistochemical reactions with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin, and neurofilaments (NF) (Dako antibodies, Denmark).

RESULTS

Histological examination revealed a set of heterogeneous changes, reflecting the complex pathogenetic interactions that developed during the formation of an epileptic focus. Structural brain damage involved both gray and white matter. Focal cortical dysplasia was diagnosed in 14 (87.5%) cases; white matter neuronal heterotopia in 100%; neuronal reactive and destructive changes in 100%; epileptic leukoencephalopathy (vascular demyelination, microcysts, sclerosis and dystonia, gliosis) in 100%, cortical atrophy in 12.5%, and hippocampal sclerosis in 20% (in 2 out of the 10 examinees).

CONCLUSION

The morphopathological heterogeneity in the structure of epileptic foci reflects the complexity of etiopathogenetic interactions, the polymorphism of epileptic manifestations, and the individual nature of formation of the epileptic system, which requires an integral approach to understanding the pathogenesis and morphogenesis of formation of the epileptic system and provides a direction for a personalized approach to epilepsy treatment.

Connectome biomarkers of drug-resistant epilepsy

Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) considerably affects patient health, cognition, and well-being, and disproportionally contributes to the overall burden of epilepsy. The most common DRE syndromes are temporal lobe epilepsy related to mesiotemporal sclerosis and extratemporal epilepsy related to cortical malformations. Both syndromes have been traditionally considered as "focal," and most patients benefit from brain surgery for long-term seizure control. However, increasing evidence indicates that many DRE patients also present with widespread structural and functional network disruptions. These anomalies have been suggested to relate to cognitive impairment and prognosis, highlighting their importance for patient management. The advent of multimodal neuroimaging and formal methods to quantify complex systems has offered unprecedented ability to profile structural and functional brain networks in DRE patients. Here, we performed a systematic review on existing DRE network biomarker candidates and their contribution to three key application areas: (1) modeling of cognitive impairments, (2) localization of the surgical target, and (3) prediction of clinical and cognitive outcomes after surgery. Although network biomarkers hold promise for a range of clinical applications, translation of neuroimaging biomarkers to the patient's bedside has been challenged by a lack of clinical and prospective studies. We therefore close by highlighting conceptual and methodological strategies to improve the evaluation and accessibility of network biomarkers, and ultimately guide clinically actionable decisions.