Core--Clinical, Animal and Histology

University Of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Core consists of three parts: a Clinical Core, an Animal Core, and a Histology Core. The Clinical Core[unreadable] provides state-of-the-art cable EEG telemetry with scalp and sphenoidal or intracerebral electrodes and video[unreadable] monitoring; complete surgical facilities for surgical resection and stereotactic placement of depth electrodes[unreadable] when necessary; ancillary diagnostic testing, including CT, MRI, PET, MEG, fMRI, MRS, digital subtraction[unreadable] magnetic resonance angiography, specialized neurocognitive testing, intracarotid amobarbital procedures,[unreadable] quantitative EEG analysis; and a team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, clinical neurophysiologists, a[unreadable] psychiatrist, a neuropsychologist, a neuroradiologist, clinical nurse-specialists, and telemetry technologists,[unreadable] all specialized in epilepsy, as well as personnel for technical and administrative support. Diagnostic and[unreadable] surgical procedures are standardized for best patient care, which also facilitates application of clinical data to[unreadable] basic research projects. The Animal Core is responsible for preparation of the pilocarpine rat and mouse[unreadable] models used by all investigators, with video-EEG facilities and personnel to monitor animals on a continuous[unreadable] basis, behaviorally to detect seizure occurrence, and electrophysiologically, in order to characterize the[unreadable] development of interictal and ictal epileptiform events when this is necessary. The Histology Core is[unreadable] responsible for carrying out routine cell counts, Timm's stain, immunocytochemistry, neurobiotin recovery[unreadable] and image analysis of human, rat, and mouse tissue used for experiments in the three subprojects. The[unreadable] specific aims of the Core are to: i) assure that all patients entered into the CNP protocols receive the best[unreadable] possible clinical care, and that research projects do not create additional risk, discomfort, or financial burden;[unreadable] ii) ensure that all clinical and animal data necessary for carrying out CNP research projects are made[unreadable] available to CNP investigators; iii) improve presurgical evaluation and surgical treatment of human temporal[unreadable] lobe epilepsy, and the cost-effective use of animal models to expand research on this disorder; and iv)[unreadable] coordinate both clinical and animal research being carried out collaboratively among the three Subprojects.