The Laminar fMRI FCD study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing layer fMRI as a new biomarker of epilepsy in children for treatment optimisation
IRAS ID
329331
Contact name
David Carmichael
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 6 days
Research summary
Epilepsy is caused by abnormal brain electrical signals that are generated in a small circuit. Disruption to the inhibitory feedback loops that should stop the electrical activity becoming uncontrolled are thought to underlie why a person with epilepsy has seizures. Recent advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have made it possible to measure activity in these circuits, because we can now take images with much higher resolution, but this has only been tried in healthy adults so far.
In this project we want to use this new technique in children with epilepsy. First, we need to check we can measure the circuit properly in healthy children during a visual task and see where it is broken in patients with photosensitive epilepsy. We have chosen to do this first because we have already studied these circuits using the new higher resolution fMRI measurements and understand how the circuit works in adults. We can then learn what the difference looks like in our fMRI signals in patients which we think will be a common feature (called a biomarker) so we can look for in scans of the whole brain without needing the task.
In the last part of the study, we will use the biomarkers of damaged brain circuits in patients with a type of brain abnormality called focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). This is an important group because it is the most common cause of drug resistant epilepsy in children. We will first study patients where there is an abnormality on structural scans before studying a group where there is not. From this we hope that we can better detect the parts of the brain that might be abnormal, which would be useful for better treating their epilepsy with surgery which is a life-changing treatment when correctly targeted.
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/PR/1572
Date of REC Opinion
11 Mar 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion