Study of the Intracerebral Electrophysiological Signature of Cognitive Processes and Functional Mapping in Patients With Drug-resistant Epilepsy

As part of the clinical management of certain severe, drug-resistant forms of epilepsy, it is necessary to implant electrodes in the brain to identify the epileptic network prior to potential neurosurgical resection of the source zones. This standardized procedure, known as Stereo-Electroencephalography (SEEG), was developed in France in the 1960s. The electrodes remain implanted for several days-typically two weeks-while awaiting spontaneous epileptic seizures. During this period, the patient remains hospitalized, and their electroencephalographic activity is recorded around the clock.

Patients can be asked to perform cognitive tasks (such as tasks involving memory, attention, vision, language, and decision-making) while awake or asleep; the results can then be correlated with the intracerebral electroencephalographic activity recorded simultaneously as part of their clinical care. This approach makes it possible to capture the electrophysiological signatures of specific cognitive processes, thereby enabling researchers to: 1) create a brain map of electrophysiological signatures, 2) improve standard models of cognitive function, and 3) study the dysfunction of these processes in epilepsy.