Focal structural changes and cognitive dysfunction in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine if there were focal cortical abnormalities in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) using neuropsychological investigations and MRI.

Methods

Twenty-eight patients with JME and a large sample of healthy controls were assessed using a series of neuropsychological tests as well as structural and diffusion tensor MRI (DTI). DTI measures assessed fractional anisotropy (FA) within a white matter skeleton.

Results

Neuropsychological testing indicated subtle dysfunctions in verbal fluency, comprehension, and expression, as well as nonverbal memory and mental flexibility. Utilizing whole-brain voxel-based morphometry for gray matter MRI data and tract-based spatial statistics for white matter diffusion MRI data, we found reductions

SUBMITTER: O'Muircheartaigh J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3030222 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature