Determinants of IQ outcome after focal epilepsy surgery in childhood: A longitudinal case-control neuroimaging study.

Objective: Intelligence quotient (IQ) outcomes after pediatric epilepsy surgery show significant individual variation. Clinical factors such as seizure cessation or antiepileptic medication discontinuation have been implicated, but do not fully account for the heterogeneity seen. Less is known about the impact of neurobiological factors, such as brain development and resection location.

Interictal epileptiform discharges have an independent association with cognitive impairment in children with lesional epilepsy.

Objectives: The relative contribution of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) to cognitive dysfunction in comparison with the underlying brain pathology is not yet understood in children with lesional focal epilepsy.

Methods: The current study investigated the association of IEDs with intellectual functioning in 103 children with medication-resistant focal epilepsy. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine the independent contribution of IED features on intellectual functioning, after controlling for effects of lesional pathology, epilepsy duration, and medication.

FIACH: A biophysical model for automatic retrospective noise control in fMRI.

Different noise sources in fMRI acquisition can lead to spurious false positives and reduced sensitivity. We have developed a biophysically-based model (named FIACH: Functional Image Artefact Correction Heuristic) which extends current retrospective noise control methods in fMRI. FIACH can be applied to both General Linear Model (GLM) and resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) studies.

Maturation of language networks in children: A systematic review of 22years of functional MRI.

Understanding how language networks change during childhood is important for theories of cognitive development and for identifying the neural causes of language impairment. Despite this, there is currently little systematic evidence regarding the typical developmental trajectory for language from the field of neuroimaging. We reviewed functional MRI (fMRI) studies published between 1992 and 2014, and quantified the evidence for age-related changes in localisation and lateralisation of fMRI activation in the language network (excluding the cerebellum and subcortical regions).