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    SUMMARY

The canonical view that that effects of electrical stimulation for mapping cortical function are local is being challenged recently. Activation of larger brain networks may be underlying symptoms evoked by high-frequency stimulation, part of the stereoelectroencephalographic investigations in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Identifying these networks has not been possible so far due to the inability to separate the EEG responses from stimulation artifacts.

We aim to address that by using a modified, alternating polarity, high-frequency stimulation protocol and an original analysis of the EEG responses in frequency domain allowing a full resolution of the responses from the stimulation artifact. Highlighting patient's effective networks associated with clinical symptoms will be instrumental to understanding the spatial patterns of seizure propagation associated to the sequence of symptoms that manifest during a seizure and to better delineating the extent of the brain tissue to be removed or inactivated.

The first atlas of the connectomes underlying clinical symptoms will be created as part of this study http://epi.fizica.unibuc.ro/symnet/. This will benefit the drug-resistant epilepsy patients by contributing to a better quality of the surgical act quantified by the seizure freedom or seizure reduction, with no or minimal functional deficits.