# Experimental Study of Goal-Directed Behavior and Memory During Temporal Lobe Epileptic Activity

> **NIH NIH R21** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $197,032

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
A broad and overarching goal of clinical neurosciences is to develop a mechanistic account of neural processes
within a specific anatomical functional network that explains a specific clinical phenotype. There is a fundamental
gap in understanding how seizures and epileptic pathological activity (i.e., not only seizures but also epileptic
activity such as high frequency oscillations) affect a patient’s cognition. A core part of human cognition is the
ability to remember. While the mechanisms of memory functions and their relationship with medial temporal lobe
structures have been investigated in detail, and there is a wealth of information on memory dysfunction in
temporal lobe epilepsy, it is yet to be known how memory functions are affected during epileptic discharges and
seizures. It also remains unknown whether focal temporal lobe seizures are able to impair goal-oriented task
performance. In clinical practice, we classify seizures based on whether the patient remembers the events or
not, and yet we have no mechanistic understanding of what happens to the patient’s memory during seizures
and how seizures impact memory for preceding and subsequent experiences. Likewise, we know little about the
nature of cognitive deficits during postictal state. The goal of the proposed project is to overcome methodological
limitations and test goal-directed behavior and memory in patients with MTL epilepsy. The objective here is to
characterize the relationship between epileptic activities and goal-oriented task performance and memory
processing. The central hypothesis of the project is that epileptic activities in the MTL will not only affect memory
processing at the time of their occurrence but will also have retrograde effects by disturbing the consolidation of
memory items presented before the occurrence of epileptic pathological activity and they will also have an
anterograde lasting effect on encoding, consolidation and retrieval of memory items after they have disappeared.
This conceptual framework is based on recent published preliminary data. The conceptual framework combined
with our novel approach present an innovative platform to address the existing gap of knowledge. The proposed
research is significant because it will serve as a systematic investigation to provide clear evidence about the
nature of memory impairments caused by epileptic activity in the MTL. This will guide future work to design
interventions in order to reduce the deleterious effects of pathological epileptic activity using novel
neuromodulation methods. Our long-term ambition is that in patients implanted with chronic neuromodulation
devices we use our evidence to design novel means by which we not only control seizures but more importantly
reverse the cognitive deficits or even enhance the reserve functions of the epileptic tissue by silencing ongoing
pathological epileptic discharges that we confirm to be toxic to human cognition.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10153120
- **Project number:** 1R21NS113024-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Josef Parvizi
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $197,032
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-12-01 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10153120

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10153120, Experimental Study of Goal-Directed Behavior and Memory During Temporal Lobe Epileptic Activity (1R21NS113024-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10153120. Licensed CC0.

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