MRI quantification of amygdala T2 signal and volume in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and in patients with depression

• Grant number: 19/08390-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Cendes
• Grantee: Marcelo Eduardo Ramos Barbosa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07559-3 - BRAINN - The Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Epilepsy is a poorly specific term, encompassing diseases which have recurrent seizures in common, occurring without toxic, metabolic and febrile conditions. Whereas, seizures are clinical consequences of a temporary dysfunction in groups of cerebral neurons, with diverse clinical presentation depending on the affected area and may be secondary to many pathological processes. The seizures are divided into focal-onset, generalized-onset and unknown-onset seizures. Among the focal epilepsies, the mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common, almost always associated to mesial temporal sclerosis. Psychiatric comorbidities are frequent in these patients, the most common being depression. Recent studies have indicated a bidirectional relation between epilepsy and depressive disorders, suggesting the existence of common pathogenic mechanisms operant in both conditions. Our objective is to measure and compare the amygdala volume and T2 signal in patients with depression and MTLE, in whom these diseases occur both indepedently and simultaneously, and in a control group, using volumetry and relaxometry techniques.