Unlocking the Mysteries of the Brain through Intracranial Recordings
Have you ever wondered how our thoughts form, how our memories last, or how our emotions arise? Well, buckle up, because we are about to delve into a fascinating realm of neuroscience: intracranial electrophysiology! In simple terms, this is the measurement of activity in different brain regions from recording electrodes placed directly into the brain. Our current understanding of the brain is being revolutionized thanks to two groundbreaking surgical techniques that involve intracranial recordings: deep stimulation (DBS) and stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG).
Deep Brain Stimulation
DBS is a surgical procedure used to treat a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions like Parkinson’s, Tourrettes’s, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and major depressive disorder (MDD). Neurosurgerons implant electrodes deep into the brain to deliver electrical impulses to specific areas to change their activity. These electrodes are connected to a device, like a pacemaker, implanted under the skin near the collarbone [1].
Stereoelectroencephalography
SEEG is used to help treat epilepsy by measuring activity from many brain regions to find which areas are causing seizures. In SEEG surgery, neurosurgeons place many thin electrodes into the brain to record activity from multiple regions at the same time. SEEG allows doctors to map connections between brain areas and find areas that are causing illnesses. Patients getting SEEG surgery will stay in the hospital for multiple days so doctors can get enough information to diagnose problems in brain activity [2].
Intracranial recordings allow researchers to study direct brain measurements from humans, which is only possible in patients with neurosurgical brain implants. Patients can choose to participate in research experiments where they perform cognitive tasks while their brain is being recorded in the operating room during DBS surgery or during their hospital stay for SEEG. Imagine being able to witness individual neurons firing in real time! With DBS and SEEG, scientists can do just that, probing the brain’s inner workings and uncovering its mysteries bit by bit. Eventually, researchers and doctors hope to track the spread of seizures or change brain activity that is causing psychiatric symptoms in real-time using intracranial recordings. With each experiment and each measurement, we are getting closer and closer every day to understanding the intricacies of human cognition and towards developing new treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
References:
Lozano, Andres M et al. “Deep brain stimulation: current challenges and future directions.” Nature reviews. Neurology vol. 15,3 (2019): 148-160. doi:10.1038/s41582-018-0128-2
Minotti, Lorella et al. “Indications and limits of stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG).” Neurophysiologie clinique = Clinical neurophysiology vol. 48,1 (2018): 15-24. doi:10.1016/j.neucli.2017.11.006
Edited by Alexandra Fink
