Skip to content
Bored Studies
RecruitingAccepts healthy volunteers

Spatial Scene Recognition Memory in Epilepsy Surgery

University of California, Davis · with Emory University · NCT07580183

View Study & Apply (opens in a new tab)

Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 18–55 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
620
US sites recruiting
2
Study start
July 1, 2024
Record last updated
May 12, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

This study investigates the anatomical and physiological basis of spatial scene recognition memory in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and temporal lobe lesions. Standard neuropsychological tests are insensitive to important memory deficits experienced by patients, particularly in spatial/scene memory, recollective experience, and familiarity processing. Using a validated virtual tour paradigm, the study examines how familiarity-based recognition and recall of spatial scenes relate to specific brain structures. In Aim I, a large cohort of patients with varied temporal lobe lesions at Emory University undergoes the virtual tour task with voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping to localize necessary brain regions. In Aim II, scalp event-related potentials and eye tracking in healthy participants at UC Davis characterize the temporal dynamics and lateralization of scene recognition. In Aim III, intracranial EEG recordings (including local field potentials and single-unit activity) in epilepsy surgery patients at UC Davis determine the precise network dynamics underlying spatial scene familiarity and recall. The long-term goal is to improve the prediction and prevention of cognitive morbidity from epilepsy surgery by providing a more complete model of spatial recognition memory circuits.

Being studied: Virtual Tour Recognition Memory Task; Intracranial EEG Recording with Research Electrodes (Aim III only); MRI Neuroimaging and Neuropsychological Assessment (Aim I)

Conditions: Focal Epilepsy; Temporal Lobe Epilepsy; Medically Refractory Epilepsy; Memory Disorders; Epilepsy Comorbidities; Epilepsy Intractable; Epilepsy Surgery; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Memory Deficits; Memory Disorder, Spatial; Memory Dysfunction; Spatial Perception

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age 18 years or older
  • For Aims I and III: Diagnosis of focal epilepsy or temporal lobe lesion; patients undergoing evaluation for or having undergone epilepsy surgery
  • For Aim II: Healthy adult participants
  • Full-Scale IQ ≥ 70
  • English proficiency sufficient to understand and complete the task
  • For Aim I: Enrolled in or eligible for Emory University epilepsy surgery research registry
  • For Aim III: Undergoing clinically indicated stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) at UC Davis Medical Center
  • Able to provide informed consent (or for Aim I retrospective component, prior consent in Emory registry)

Exclusion Criteria

  • Full-Scale IQ \< 70
  • Inability to provide informed consent
  • For Aim III: Age > 55 years
  • For Aim II: History of neurological or psychiatric disorder (as applicable per study protocol)

Recruiting US locations

  • UC Davis Medical Center

    Sacramento, CA 95817

    Site contact: Nigel P Pedersen, MD · 916-734-3251 · nppedersen@health.ucdavis.edu

  • Emory University Hospital

    Atlanta, GA 30322

    Site contact: Daniel L Drane, PhD · 404-727-2844 · ddrane@emory.edu

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Nigel P Pedersen, MD · 916-734-3251 · nppedersen@health.ucdavis.edu
All neurology studies in California →
Spatial Scene Recognition Memory in Epilepsy Surgery (NCT07580183) | Bored Studies