Halima Chahboune1, Asht Mishra2, Matthew Desalvo2, Lawrence Staib1,3, Magor Lorincz4, Vincenzo Crunelli4, Fahmeed Hyder1,5, Hal Blumenfeld2,6
1Diagnostic Radiology , Yale University
School of Medicine , New Haven, CT, USA; 2Neurology, Yale
University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; 3Biomedical
Engineering, Yale University School of Medicine , New HAven, CT, USA; 4School
of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; 5Biomedical
Engineering, Yale University School of Medicine , New Haven, CT, USA; 6Neurobiology,
Yale University School of Medicine , New HAven, CT, USA
DTI has provided unique insights into human epilepsy, and albeit to a lesser extent, animal models of seizure disorder. The aims of this study were to use DTI in WAG/Rij rats, an animal model of absence epilepsy, at two different developmental stages to first identify DTI changes related to epileptogenesis and to then use a different animal model of absence (GAERS) to determine the specificity of DTI changes. This study shows impairment in animal models of epilepsy. These abnormalities are not present early in life before development of seizures and are not specific to one animal model of spike-wave epilepsy.