Clinical Trial: Connectivity Analysis for Investigation of Auditory Impairment in Epilepsy

Study Status: Terminated
Recruit Status: Terminated
Study Type: Observational

Official Title: Connectivity Analysis for Investigation of Auditory Impairment in Epilepsy

Brief Summary:

Background:

  • People with epilepsy often have auditory processing disorders that affect their ability to hear clearly and may cause problems with understanding speech and other kinds of verbal communication. Researchers are interested in developing better ways of studying what parts of the brain are affected by hearing disorders and epilepsy, and they need better clinical tests to measure how individuals process sound. These tests will allow researchers to examine and evaluate the effects of epilepsy and related disorders on speech and communication.
  • A procedure called a magnetoencephalography (MEG) can be used to measure the electrical currents involved in brain activity. Researchers are interested in learning whether MEG can be used to detect differences in the processing of simple sounds in patients with epilepsy, both with and without hearing impairments.

Objectives:

- To measure brain activity in hearing impaired persons with epilepsy and compare the results with those from people with normal hearing and epilepsy as well as people with normal hearing and no epilepsy. This research is performed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Hospital and epilepsy patients must be candidates for surgery at Johns Hopkins.

Eligibility:

  • Individuals between 18 to 55 years of age who (1) have epilepsy and have hearing impairments, (2) have epilepsy but do not have hearing impairments, or (3) are healthy volunteers who have neither epilepsy nor hearing impairments.
  • Participants with epilepsy must have developed seizures after 10 years of age, and must be

    Detailed Summary:

    Objective: Auditory processing disorders are common in patients with epilepsy and adversely impact verbal communication. The neural bases of auditory disorders remain poorly understood, impeding development of objective clinical tests. The overall goal of this project is to develop an objective clinical measure of auditory processing using computational modeling of functional brain connectivity. To address this goal, we will use novel functional connectivity methods to analyze magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and intracranial electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings.

    Study Population: We will acquire MEG data from 48 patients with intractable epilepsy prior to their undergoing grid electrode placement for neurosurgery evaluation at Johns Hopkins Hospital. ECoG data will be acquired at JHU under an ongoing study. Approximately half the patients will have auditory processing impairments. We will also acquire MEG from 20 healthy control subjects with no auditory processing impairment.

    Design: Three planned studies use a within-subject, repeated measures design. The MEG studies will be conducted before patients have subdural electrodes implanted for intracranial mapping. The MEG studies and connectivity analyses will be performed at NIH. The ECoG studies will take place at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Data will be acquired using the same auditory stimuli and tasks for both the MEG and ECoG parts of the study. The same functional connectivity analyses will be performed on the two data sets.

    Outcome measures: The main outcome measures will be (1) functional connectivity patterns in intracranial ECoG data that differentiate epilepsy patients with auditory impairments from those without auditory impairments; and (2) corresponding patterns in MEG data. Secondary outcome measures will consist
    Sponsor: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

    Current Primary Outcome: The main outcome measures were to be (1) functional connectivity patterns in intracranial ECoG data that differentiate epilepsy patients with auditory impairments from those without auditory impairments; and (2) corresponding patterns in ... [ Time Frame: 12-18 months ]

    Original Primary Outcome:

    Current Secondary Outcome: Secondary outcome measures were to consist of relationships between the intracranial ECoG connectivity measures and the MEG connectivity measures. [ Time Frame: 12-18 months ]

    Original Secondary Outcome:

    Information By: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)

    Dates:
    Date Received: September 29, 2010
    Date Started: September 10, 2010
    Date Completion: April 4, 2017
    Last Updated: April 21, 2017
    Last Verified: April 4, 2017