Donald J Bearden

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Associate Professor at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Medicine

Pathogenic variants in SPTAN1 result in abnormal neurodevelopment but limited information is available on the spectrum of neurodevelopmental profiles associated with variations in this gene. We present novel data collected at two time points over a three-year period on a nine-year-old patient with heterozygous de novo SPTAN1 variant, drug-resistant...

Rationale: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) via stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) is indicated when epileptogenic zone (EZ) overlaps with eloquent cortex and there is concern for functional loss due to surgery. While RFA is often effective, there exists no evidence-based standard for pediatric RFA procedure parameters, including optimal amount of en...

Introduction: Accurate assessment of pain severity is important for caring for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). The Brief Pain Inventory was developed to address limitations of previous pain-rating metrics and is available in a short form (BPI-SF). However, the BPI-SF is a self-report scale dependent on patient comprehension and interpreta...

In this article, we provide an overview of our panel presentation at the American Epilepsy Society meeting in December2023. Our presentation reviewed functional mapping methods for epilepsy surgery including well-established and newer methods, focusing mostly on language and memory. Dr Leigh Sepeta (Chair) and Dr Jana Jones (Chair) organized the pr...

Pediatric patients with epilepsy often have psychosocial and cognitive difficulties. Physical activity has emerged as a lifestyle modification that may reduce seizure burden, enhance brain plasticity, and improve cognitive and psychosocial comorbidities. We systematically reviewed published studies examining the effect of physical activity on cogni...

Electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) is used to locate the brain areas supporting language directly within the human cortex to minimize the risk of functional decline following epilepsy surgery. ESM is completed by utilizing subdural grid or depth electrodes (stereo‐electroencephalography [sEEG]) in combination with behavioral evaluation of languag...

Epilepsy surgery has witnessed recent advancements in minimally invasive procedures, demanding precise evaluation methods for improved patient outcomes. The conventional intracarotid amobarbital (Wada) test, originally designed to assess memory function in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients, may inadequately predict memory outcomes of selective...

Many studies have investigated brain network dynamics involved in language, but most have done so from the scalp and focused on discrete components of language. Functional mapping using stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) offers a unique opportunity to directly examine eloquent cortex supporting language. Picture naming is the most common task used...

Objective Pediatric patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) have higher rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as executive functioning (EF) and fine motor (FM) challenges. Relations between these constructs have been established in youth with ADHD and are supported by FM and EF skill involvement in frontal-subcortical...

Objective The Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium (PERC) Epilepsy Surgery Database Project is a multisite collaborative that includes neuropsychological evaluations of children presenting for epilepsy surgery. There is some evidence for specific neuropsychological phenotypes within epilepsy (Hermann et al, 2016); however, this is less clear in p...

Objective Rapid Onset Obesity with Hypoventilation, Hypothalamic Dysfunction, Autonomic Dysregulation (ROHHAD) is a rare and often progressive syndrome with unknown etiology and only 100 cases reported to date. The syndrome is characterized by generally normal development followed by rapid onset of pain, muscle weakness, personality changes, and de...

Objective Children with epilepsy are at greater risk of lower academic achievement than their typically developing peers (Reilly and Neville, 2015). Demographic, social, and neuropsychological factors, such as executive functioning (EF), mediate this relation. While research emphasizes the importance of EF skills for academic achievement among typi...

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted schools and learning formats. Children with epilepsy are at-risk for generalized academic difficulties. We investigated the potential impact of COVID-19 on learning in those with epilepsy by comparing achievement on well-established academic measures among school-age children with epilepsy ref...

Objective A rich literature exists on cognitive changes related to focal injury in the adult brain. In contrast, the developing brains of children are less understood. In contrast to adult cases, 20% to 25% of perinatal strokes result in language disorder regardless of lesion lateralization. Existing literature suggests children with perinatal stro...

Objective Epilepsy includes recurrent, unprovoked seizures and affects 470,000 children in the US, of which 7% have drug-resistant epilepsy due to failing two or more antiseizure medication trials. For some patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, surgery has been successful in reducing seizure burden. Functional MRI (fMRI) and intracranial mapping o...

Introduction: Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) are highly vulnerable to pain and depression compared to their healthy peers. They also are at high risk of experiencing discrimination due to a combination of racial biases and stigma associated with SCD. Discrimination can have negative psychological effects and lead to poor health outcomes in...

Introduction: Panic disorder (PD) is common and defined by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and persistent concern about additional attacks and their consequences. Anxiety affects declarative memory, which is important for reframing maladaptive thoughts and beliefs and learning healthy coping strategies. Methods: We developed random forest (R...

The piriform cortex (PC) is part of the olfactory system, principally receiving input from the lateral olfactory tract and projecting to downstream components of the olfactory network, including the amygdala. Based on preclinical studies, PC is vulnerable to injury and can be easily kindled as an onset site for seizures. While the role of PC in hum...

Objective Improve data‐driven research to inform clinical decision‐making with pediatric epilepsy surgery patients by expanding the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium Epilepsy Surgery (PERC‐Surgery) Workgroup to include neuropsychological data. This article reports on the process and initial success of this effort and characterizes the cognitiv...

Presurgical evaluation of refractory epilepsy involves functional investigations to minimize postoperative deficit. Assessing language and memory is conventionally undertaken using Wada and fMRI, and occasionally supplemented by data from invasive intracranial electroencephalography, such as electrical stimulation, corticortical evoked potentials,...

We provide “proof of concept” for electrical Wada in localizing language and memory during Phase 2 evaluation in the pediatric epilepsy population. The results of the electrical Wada were concordant with other Phase 1 evaluations and post-operative patient performance further corroborates these findings. Future studies should expand upon this parad...

Intracranial electroencephalography is frequently used to study patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and offers a unique opportunity to study human cognition. Its utility can be extended to better understand functional neuroanatomical profiles of patients and guide a tailored, minimally invasive surgical approach. We present prospective data on a...

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common pediatric epilepsy comorbidities. Treating ADHD in the context of epilepsy can be overwhelming for parents and clinicians. Current frontline treatment for ADHD is stimulant medication. However, some parents of pediatric patients with epilepsy have concerns about adding additi...

The piriform cortex is part of the olfactory system, principally receiving input from the lateral olfactory tract and projecting to downstream components of the olfactory network, including the amygdala. Based on preclinical studies, the piriform cortex is vulnerable to injury and can be easily kindled as an onset site for seizures. While the role...

Pathogenic variants in SPTAN1 result in abnormal neurodevelopment but limited information is available on the spectrum of neurodevelopmental profiles associated with variations in this gene. We present novel data collected at two time points over a three-year period in a nine-year-old patient with heterozygous de novo SPTAN1 variant, drug-resistant...

We present data on a 10-year-old patient with drug-resistant epilepsy who was treated with methylphenidate for symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that developed after she underwent surgical resection of a left frontal cortical dysplasia. . The patient’s parents reported methylphenidate was helpful in improving their child’s...

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is a common physical complaint in children and adolescents. Prior research has documented associations between FAP symptoms and mood, especially internalizing behaviors. Limited research is available examining the association between symptom burden and cognitive function in this pediatric population. This study explo...

We present neuropsychological and functional outcome data in a teenage patient undergoing stereotactic laser amygdalohippocampotomy (SLAH) who had drug resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with left hippocampal sclerosis. Given strong baseline cognitive performance, there was concern for declines in language and verbal memory were this patient t...

Objective Intractable epilepsy is often associated with cognitive difficulties in the language domain. Few studies examining verbal domains of cognitive functioning indicate a small increase of verbal skills post-surgery. The current study compared Verbal IQ and Performance IQ domains in pediatric populations before and after open resection surgery...

Objective Epilepsy is associated with cognitive difficulties including language and memory problems. Studies examining cognitive function in children with new onset seizures have found that they have difficulties when compared to healthy controls, but less is known about how these difficulties compare to cognitive function in children who have had...

Objective In patients with epilepsy, research is variable with regard to language difficulties. Previous research generally focuses on phonemic and semantic verbal fluency in pediatric populations post-surgery; however, few studies examine category switching accuracy. This study compared phonemic fluency, categorical fluency, switching accuracy, an...

Objective This pilot study examines the effects of yoga therapy on anxiety, depression symptoms, inattention, and seizure frequency in children diagnosed with Epilepsy. Data Selection The sample consisted of 5 participants (4 male, 1 female), ages 7-12 years old, with diagnoses of generalized epilepsy, absence epilepsy, and complex partial epileps...

Background: To date, few studies have delineated clear sex-based differences in symptom resolution after a sports-related concussion (SRC), and equivocal results have been identified in sex-based differences on baseline assessments. Purpose: To assess whether female athletes displayed prolonged recovery and more symptoms at baseline and after an...

Objective To examine a computerized parent training program, “Bear Essentials,” to improve parents’ knowledge and coaching to help relieve preschoolers’ immunization distress. Method In a randomized controlled trial, 90 parent–child dyads received Bear Essentials parent training plus distraction, distraction only, or control. Outcomes were parent k...

Data suggest parents' preprocedural anxiety is related to children's acute procedural anxiety and pain. This study examined the temporal relations among these constructs to determine whether children's anxiety mediates the relation between parents' anticipatory anxiety and children's procedural pain. A total of 90 preschoolers receiving immunizatio...

Background and purpose: Ischemic injury to the brain is a common complication of SCA. To better understand the neurologic impact of SCA, TBSS were applied to DTI data to investigate white matter injuries in pediatric patients with SCA. Materials and methods: TBSS comparisons of a range of anisotropy and diffusion measures were carried out betwee...

Accurate assessment of acute pediatric pain can help dispel myths that children's experience of pain is less severe than adults', aid medical staff and clinicians in accurately diagnosing and treating children's pain, and allow researchers to investigate pain and its correlates. A range of measures have been developed to quantify children's acute p...

Children endure numerous acute painful events, most of which occur within the medical arena. For instance, by the time a child reaches the age of 6, the child will have experienced approximately 30 immunizations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). Grounded in the Gate Control Theory (Melzack and Wall, 1965), psychological methods of...

Infants experience a host of painful medical procedures including heel sticks, venipuncture, and immunizations. Historically, little attention was given to infant pain management due to myths and misconceived beliefs about the experience and long-term effects of pain in infants. Recent data suggest that there are both short-and long-term negative r...

Immunizations are an essential part of children's healthcare; however, the associated distress can have short-and long-term negative ramifications for children. Parents' procedural behavior is one of the strongest predictors of children's distress. The current study evaluated whether an in-teractive computer training program influenced parents' kno...