The purpose of this research study is to help us better understand how the brain changes its activity before, during and after a seizure and how those changes affect the brain’s ability to create and recall memories.
To accomplish that goal, we must obtain information both from individuals who suffer from epilepsy and individuals who have never had a seizure or brain injury. Forty (40) people 18 years or older undergoing evaluation for epilepsy surgery and 15 people 18 years or older who have never had a seizure or brain injury will take part in this study. To qualify for this study the participants with epilepsy must currently be in consideration for resective brain surgery here at UAMS.
Eligible individuals with epilepsy who provide consent to participate will be asked to perform several memory tasks while wearing a cap to measure the electrical activity of their brain using electroencephalography (EEG). These EEG assessments of memory will be conducted on at least 3 separate occasions during the study: once before the surgery, once while on the epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU), and at least once several months after their surgery. For the healthy participants there will usually only be one study visit during which the memory tasks would be completed while wearing the cap to measure the electrical activity in the brain using EEG. All participants who complete EEG assessments will be reimbursed $50 for each visit.