Nichol Civitello / Psychology / Faculty Mentor: Crystal Cooper
Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember and execute future intentions, is essential for daily functioning. Patients with epilepsy are at risk for PM deficits due to seizures, medication effects, and executive dysfunction, yet research on PM in this population remains limited. This study aims to examine PM performance in patients with epilepsy relative to typically developing (TD) peers and identify neurocognitive correlates of PM deficits by using multimodal neuroimaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and simultaneous magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG).
We will assess PM with behavioral and memory tasks, neuropsychological testing, and neuroimaging methods. We hypothesize that epileptic children will show greater PM deficits relative to TD controls. The neural correlates of their deficits will be characterized by lower neural activity and network connectivity in regions of the default mode (DMN), dorsal and ventral attention networks (DAN, VAN).
Findings will enhance our understanding of PM in epilepsy and inform interventions to improve functional independence. By identifying cognitive risk factors for PM impairments, this research may guide strategies to support medical adherence and daily functioning in children with epilepsy, ultimately improving clinical care and quality of life.
Leave a Reply