LENS: Predicting brain aging and surgical outcomes in epilepsy with AI
Official title: Lifespan Epilepsy Network Signatures (LENS): Leveraging ENIGMA-Epilepsy to Predict Cognitive Aging and Surgical Outcomes
Funded at University of California, San Diego · NIH-11445605 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A patient-focused overview of using brain imaging and AI to better predict how epilepsy affects thinking, aging, and treatment results across ages.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Diego NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project start | July 15, 2021 |
| Project end | August 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $672,118 |
| NIH project number | 2R01NS122827-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11445605 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Individuals with epilepsy across a wide age range (children to older adults), including varying syndromes, who may undergo imaging and clinical evaluation.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with epilepsy who do not undergo imaging or whose data cannot be harmonized across centers may experience no direct benefit.
What this research studies
This grant brings together many hospitals to collect brain scans and clinical data from people with epilepsy, spanning children to older adults. By learning patterns in brain networks, researchers hope to predict how epilepsy changes brain development and aging, and how these changes relate to treatment outcomes like surgery. The project uses advanced imaging and artificial intelligence to map different epilepsy syndromes and individual differences over time. If successful, this work could guide personalized treatment decisions and improve long-term cognitive health for people with epilepsy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If the approach succeeds, patients could receive more accurate forecasts of treatment effects and better-tailored therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work with ENIGMA-Epilepsy has shown reproducible brain network findings across centers, suggesting this approach is promising.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mcdonald, Carrie R — University of California, San Diego
- Study coordinator: Mcdonald, Carrie R
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Brain aging and thinking in older adults with epilepsy
This project follows older adults with temporal or frontal lobe epilepsy to find blood tests, genes, blood vessel measures, and brain scan patterns linked to faster memory and thinking decline.
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Whether long-term epilepsy speeds up brain aging, seen with PET and MRI scans
Researchers are using PET and MRI brain scans to look at whether adults with long-term focal epilepsy show signs of faster brain and memory aging than people their age.
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Investigating brain aging and cognition in older adults with epilepsy
This study is looking at how epilepsy impacts thinking and brain health in older adults aged 55 to 90, and it aims to find out what factors might speed up aging in the brain, so we can help prevent or slow down memory problems like dementia.
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Investigating how chronic epilepsy affects brain aging
This study is looking at how chronic epilepsy might speed up brain aging and is for people with epilepsy who want to understand how their condition could affect their brain health over time.
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Aging Well with HIV: Alcohol, Risk Reduction, and Education Center (AWAR3E)
A center at Yale is exploring how aging with HIV interacts with alcohol use to create inflammation and frailty, with the goal of finding biomarkers and potential treatments.
-
Scaling Up Task-Shifted Epilepsy Care for Children in Africa
A study to help children with epilepsy in Africa get diagnosed and receive seizure care through trained community health workers.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.