Neuronal and Network Mechanisms of Electrocortical Stimulation

Launched by NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · Apr 25, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Electrocortical stimulation (ECS) mapping has been used routinely for many decades to inform surgeons on brain areas to avoid when planning surgical resections for tumors or epilepsy. In particular, those areas that are "critical" for speech and language are important to identify. Yet, despite its long history of clinical use, the precise mechanisms of ECS are poorly understood. For example, it is not known how different cortical layers and cell types respond to ECS. Moreover, it is not even clear whether ECS' behavioral effects are due to affecting the underlying cortex alone, causing tran...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Requiring awake, cortical mapping for brain tumor resection or implantation of intracranial electrodes for extraoperative monitoring for epilepsy
• • For extraoperative patients: Planned electrode coverage including at least parts of frontal and temporal or parietal lobes, preferably both anterior (inferior frontal gyrus) and posterior language areas (superior temporal gyrus) in the language dominant hemisphere
• • For intraoperative patients: Planned craniotomy including parts of both frontal and temporal anterior and posterior language areas in the language dominant hemisphere.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Significant language or speech impairment, including but not limited to aphasia, dysarthria, and apraxia of speech, consistently preventing patient from speaking words
• • Non English-speaking (because this is a study of language networks, and second language could be encoded differently)
• • Impaired cognitive function, as determined by neurological testing, such that the patient cannot follow test instructions or provide written informed consent
• • Tumor infiltrating, or within 1 cm of, multiple of the cortical or subcortical areas studied in this proposal (inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, superior temporal gyrus)
• • Ferromagnetic implants that are MRI incompatible or other contraindications to MRI
• • Pregnancy