Epilepsy is defined as a temporary and reversible alteration in the electrical activity of the brain, and seizures should not be caused by fever, drugs or metabolic disorders. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is the initial investigation of epilepsy, but the functional images by Magnetic Resonance (MRI) make it possible to indirectly measure brain activity, since they are sensitive to oxygenation, volume and blood flow in response to neuronal activity. The objective of this study was to evaluate magnetic resonance imaging in the investigation of epilepsy. His study is characterized as a systematized bibliographical review, where for data collection a bibliographical survey was carried out in the literature from the period of 2012 to 2016. For this, the databases were used: Google Academic, Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo) and Literature Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences (Lilacs) as well as traditional literature in the area. The study revealed that MRI is an important tool and superior to other diagnostic methods in the evaluation and follow-up of epilepsy. Because it is a non-invasive technique, it does not offer risks to the patient and the precision of the techniques by functional magnetic resonance.