Gustav Klimt. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

Make a Gift

One of the best ways to support our ongoing efforts to cure epilepsy is to join our team and make a gift towards epilepsy research. Giving options to support epilepsy research at Yale are available at multiple levels through the Yale Office of Development. Please mark donations for the Blumenfeld Laboratory. All gifts are tax deductible.

Participate in the Childhood Absence Epilepsy Study

Patients: Our epilepsy team lead by Dr. Hal Blumenfeld at Yale Neurology is recruiting absence epilepsy patients from the ages of 6-18 for an fMRI study at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. We will compensate you $100 for each scan session and reimburse you for travel and lodging. You will also receive a picture of your brain and a special prize with successful completion of the scan. Your neurologist will receive a report of your study results. You cannot participate in the study if you have other kinds of seizures or if you have a known brain abnormality. The study will consist of two parts: a 1- to 2-hour training session, and one or two 2-hour scan sessions with simultaneous EEG and fMRI. Both parts will be conducted at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. The tests are all safe, non-invasive, and absolutely confidential. By helping us find out more about absence epilepsy, you can help benefit other patients and their families in the future. Thank you for your interest in participating in this exciting research that aims to improve understanding and treatment of absence epilepsy. You can find additional information at our NIH website. To participate, please contact Jen at yalecaestudy@gmail.com or call at 203-815-7231. You can also contact Dr. Hal Blumenfeld.

Physicians:

During absence seizures, patients experience variable degrees of attentional impairment.  We are investigating the fMRI and EEG manifestations of this variability to better understand the brain networks involved in absence seizures and attention. Our study has been approved by the Yale Human Investigations Committee. Participants will undergo simultaneous EEG-fMRI, attention and behavioral testing at Yale. We hope to determine which parts of the brain are affected by seizure activity and how this may interact with attention and consciousness networks. 

Related Publications:

Bai X, Vestal M, Berman R, Negishi M, Spann M, Vega C, Desalvo M, Novotny EJ, Constable RT, Blumenfeld H. (2010). Dynamic time course of typical childhood absence seizures: EEG, behavior, and functional magnetic resonance imaging.  J Neuroscience, 30(17): 5884-5893.  Download

Berman R, Negishi M, Vestal M, Spann M, Chung M, Bai X, Purcaro M, Motelow JE, Danielson N, Dix-Cooper L, Enev M, Novotny EJ, Constable RT, Blumenfeld H.  (2010).  Simultaneous EEG, fMRI, and behavior in typical childhood absence seizures.  Epilepsia, 51(10):2011-22. Download

Vega C, Vestal M, DeSalvo M, Berman R, Chung M, Blumenfeld H, Spann M.  (2010). Differentiation of Attention-Related Problems in Childhood Absence Epilepsy.  Epilepsy & Behavior, 19(1):82-5. Download

Your help in referring patients with childhood absence epilepsy or juvenile absence epilepsy would be greatly appreciated because it will contribute to the progress of our research, and your CAE patients will learn more about their epilepsy and how it is related to attention. A report from the fMRI and behavioral analysis will be sent to you to keep on record as well.  Please refer to our NIH online posting for additional information. Eligibility criteria for patients include:

• 6 to 18 years old
  

• Diagnosed with childhood absence epilepsy or juvenile absence epilepsy
  

• Continue to seize on medication, seize when they miss a dose, or are not on medication
  

• No history of myoclonic or tonic-clonic seizures
  

All travel and hotel expenses will be reimbursed, and patients will be paid $100 for each day they are scanned.

To refer patients to our study, please contact us at yalecaestudy@gmail.com or call our study cell phone at 203-815-7231.

Download information pamphlet for eligible patients: CAE brochure.pdf

Download the fax referral form: Fax Referral Form.pdf

Participate in the Driving Study

Project Overview

Our research study at Yale School of Medicine uses rFactor to learn more about driving safety in patients with epilepsy. One of the most devastating aspects of epilepsy is its effects on patients’ ability to drive. Some suffer motor vehicle accidents when they have seizures, and many others are prevented from driving for months or years at a time by state laws, doctors’ advice or fear of crashing. The goal of our research is to determine how epileptic seizures affect driving performance. Scientists do not know which brain regions lead to impaired driving safety during and following seizures. Also, the types of seizures which cause impaired driving safety have not been carefully studied. Our hope is that this research will provide useful information for clinicians when discussing driving risk with their patients. Knowledge of the brain networks affected when driving safety is impaired can also lead to treatments which prevent this problem. This will enhance safety, prevent injuries, and improve the quality of life for patients with epilepsy.

Assistance is always welcome in these areas:  

• rFactor Technical Expertise
  

• Customizing tracks so it is fun for patients to play, or adding additional features such as stop lights, pedestrians, etc., so we get the maximum  information about patients' performance during seizures.
  

• Analyzing game data using the ‘internals’ plug-in.
  

• Make a tax-deductible gift directed towards this research
  

If you have code to share or would like to help, please email Dr. Blumenfeld at hal.blumenfeld@yale.edu. We would love to discuss the game with you, and will of course acknowledge anyone who offers code that contributes significantly to this important medical research.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following individuals for making significant contributions to the project:

Marvin Fröhlich, author of rfDynHUD
Sean Yoder, Alex Sawczuk, and Luc Van Camp (Global Motorsport Technologies)
Gjon Camaj (Image Space Incorporated)