Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40183564›Full record

ArticleEpilepsia2025

Neurobehavioral therapy in functional seizures: Investigation of mechanism of action with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Jerzy P Szaflarski, W Curt LaFrance, Rodolphe Nenert, Jane B Allendorfer, Stephen Correia, Tyler E Gaston, Adam M Goodman, Leslie E Grayson, Noah Philip

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Epilepsia, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jerzy P SzaflarskiDepartment of Neurology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5936-6627
W Curt LaFranceDepartment of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4901-3852
Rodolphe NenertDepartment of Neurology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Jane B AllendorferDepartment of Neurology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6888-9000
Stephen CorreiaDepartment of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Tyler E GastonDepartment of Neurology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6525-789X
Adam M GoodmanDepartment of Psychology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Leslie E GraysonDepartment of Neurology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Noah PhilipDepartment of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Funding

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs W81XWH-17-1-0619Intramural VA VA999999RRD VA I50 RX002864
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveFunctional seizures (FS) often disrupt the key regions integral to cognitive processing and emotional regulation (anterior insula, anterior cingulate, and temporoparietal junction). We investigated the potential neurophysiologic mechanism of action (MOA) of neurobehavioral therapy (NBT) using resting-state functional MRI seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity within these regions in adults with FS. We hypothesized that NBT would induce changes in functional connectivity in parallel with improving seizure frequency and behavioral outcomes.

methodsForty patients with traumatic brain injury and FS (TBI+FS) underwent 12 weekly sessions of NBT and provided pre-/post-intervention resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), seizure logs, and behavioral assessments. Fifty-five individuals with TBI without FS (TBI-only) completed the same measures, received standard medical care but not NBT, and functional MRI ~12 weeks apart. For each key region, two-sample t-tests assessed direct group comparison. Repeated measures analysis of covariance assessed how group differences evolved over time and how these changes were modulated by the changes in seizure frequency, diagnosis duration, or behavioral scores (false discovery rate corrected at p < .05).

resultsWith NBT, seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity was significantly higher between right anterior insula and left supplementary motor area in TBI+FS compared to TBI-only, and between left anterior insula and left postcentral gyrus in seizure-free TBI+FS compared to those who were not seizure-free. Percentage decrease in seizure frequency with NBT was associated with lower functional connectivity between bilateral insula and left superior medial frontal gyrus in patients with FS. Improvements in behavioral measures did not correspond to changes in functional connectivity. SIGNIFICANCE: The study underscores the relationship between the changes in resting-state functional connectivity of the anterior insula in FS and treatment response to NBT and illustrates the potential neurophysiologic MOA of NBT for the treatment of FS; it suggests an independence of this MOA from the potential effects of NBT on behavioral measures.

Indexed as

Behavior TherapyBrainBrain Injuries, TraumaticMagnetic Resonance ImagingSeizuresAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRestTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultfMRIfunctional connectivityfunctional seizuresneurobehavioral therapyoutcomestraumatic brain injury

Identifiers

PMID40183564
PMCPMC12353879

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.