Mapping (and modeling) physiological movements during EEG-fMRI recordings: the added value of the video acquired simultaneously

Background: During resting-state EEG-fMRI studies in epilepsy, patients' spontaneous head-face movements occur frequently. We tested the usefulness of synchronous video recording to identify and model the fMRI changes associated with non-epileptic movements to improve sensitivity and specificity of fMRI maps related to interictal epileptiform discharges (IED). New methods: Categorization of different facial/cranial movements during EEG-fMRI was obtained for 38 patients [with benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (BECTS, n = 16); with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE, n = 17); focal symptomatic/cryptogenic epilepsy (n = 5)]. We compared at single subject-and at group-level the IED-related fMRI maps obtained with and without additional regressors related to spontaneous movements. As secondary aim, we considered facial movements as events of interest to test the usefulness of video information to obtain fMRI maps of the following face movements: swallowing, mouth-tongue movements, and blinking. Results: Video information substantially improved the identification and classification of the artifacts with respect to the EEG observation alone (mean gain of 28 events per exam). Comparison with existing method: Inclusion of physiological activities as additional regressors in the GLM model demonstrated an increased Z-score and number of voxels of the global maxima and/or new BOLD clusters in around three quarters of the patients. Video-related fMRI maps for swallowing, mouth-tongue movements, and blinking were comparable to the ones obtained in previous task-based fMRI studies. Conclusions: Video acquisition during EEG-fMRI is a useful source of information. Modeling physiological movements in EEG-fMRI studies for epilepsy will lead to more informative IED-related fMRI maps in different epileptic conditions.