Objective EEG bed side assessment of impaired conscious awareness in epilepsy

• Applicants: Privatdozent Dr. Helmut Laufs, Ph.D.; Dr. Inken Tödt
• Subject Area: Clinical Neurology; Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology ; Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 440536202

The goal of this project is the development of an EEG-based measure of impaired conscious awareness. This clinical tool shall support the physician in judging this cognitive domain and its disabling effects on the life of epilepsy patients. Impaired conscious awareness is a relevant burden to patients with epilepsy suffering from cognitive seizures or absences as recognized by the latest renewal of ILAE (International League Against Epilepsy) classifications [1, 2]. So far, an objective accurate means to reliably measure alterations in conscious awareness during or – importantly - in-between seizures is not available. Methods are required for the assessment of interictal compromitation of conscious awareness because of its detrimental effects on quality of life [3-5]. In preparation of this proposed project we have established in our work on sleep spatial and temporal fMRI markers of impaired conscious awareness [6-9]. With EEG being an already well-established routine clinical and bedside test we aim inthis project to derive the degree of conscious awareness from EEG quantitative measures in sleep and epilepsies with absence seizures. In step one of the project we aim to identify - based on the EEG alone - measures of impaired conscious awareness during sleep - just like we did with fMRI. In step two we will apply the identified measures to EEGs of epilepsy patients and will develop the technique to become a clinically useful bed side tool. It might be applicable to other conditions of impaired conscious awareness, e.g. dementias.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants