The link between structural connectivity and neurocognition illustrated by focal epilepsy

International audience– Increasing attention is being paid to the assessment of white matter properties and its structural connectivity, both in healthy subjects and patients with cerebral lesions. Within this framework, new neurocogni-tive models based on hodological properties have been developed under a connectomic perspective in order to explain substrates and cognitive mechanisms related to cerebral functions such as language and memory. With regards to focal and drug-resistant epilepsy conceived as a network disorder , new insights in terms of structural connectivity have led to significant advances in epilepsy research, concerning fundamental research (neu-rocognitive mechanisms of plasticity) and clinical application (optimization of decision making for curative surgery). We believe that such findings in the literature, focused on the role of white matter in cerebral functioning in relation to neurocognition, may be helpful for both researchers and clinicians working in the field of epilepsy. Structural connectivity and neurocognition: general information Structural connectivity refers to the study of the anatomical features of brain networks in terms of subcorti-cal white matter (WM) that underlies interconnections between different cortical regions. Within the current context of growing interest with a connectomic perspective, many MRI methods and parameters are now available to assess WM anatomical properties including architecture, spatial trajectory, density or integrity (Sporns, 2013). These structural properties, investigated in relation to cognitive functions and behavioral performance, allows the development of mor