F1000Research Open Peer Review , Ghent University Roma Siugzdaite Belgium , ETH Zürich Switzerland Ruedi Stoop Discuss this article (0) Comments 2 1 METHOD ARTICLE Longitudinal variations of brain functional connectivity: A case report study based on a mouse model of epilepsy [v1; ref status: indexed, http://f1000r.es/5fz] A. Erramuzpe , J. M. Encinas , A. Sierra , M. Maletic-Savatic , A.L. Brewster , Anne E. Anderson , S. Stramaglia , Jesus M. Cortes 1,3,4 Biocruces Health Research Institute, Cruces University Hospital, Barakaldo, 48903, Spain Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience, Zamudio, 48170, Spain University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, 48940, Spain Ikerbasque: The Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, 48013, Spain Neurological Research Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita degla Studi di Bari and INFN, Bari, 70125, Italy BCAM, Basque Center for Applied Mathematics, Bilbao, 48009, Spain Abstract Brain Functional Connectivity (FC) quantifies statistical dependencies between areas of the brain. FC has been widely used to address altered function of brain circuits in control conditions compared to different pathological states, including epilepsy, a major neurological disorder. However, FC also has the as yet unexplored potential to help us understand the pathological transformation of the brain circuitry. Our hypothesis is that FC can differentiate global brain interactions across a time-scale of days. To this end, we present a case report study based on a mouse model for epilepsy and analyze longitudinal intracranial electroencephalography data of epilepsy to calculate FC across three stages: 1, the initial insult (status epilepticus); 2, the latent period, when epileptogenic networks emerge; and 3, chronic epilepsy, when unprovoked seizures occur as spontaneous events. We found that the overall network FC at low frequency bands decreased immediately after status epilepticus was provoked, and increased monotonously later on during the latent period. Overall, our results demonstrate the capacity of FC to address longitudinal variations of brain connectivity across the establishment of pathological states. 1 2-4 2-4 5 5 5 6,7 1,3,4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Referee Status: Invited Referees version 1 published 05 Jun 2015 1 2 report report 05 Jun 2015, :144 (doi: ) First published: 4 10.12688/f1000research.6570.1 05 Jun 2015, :144 (doi: ) Latest published: 4 10.12688/f1000research.6570.1 v1 Page 1 of 10 F1000Research 2015, 4:144 Last updated: 24 JUN 2015