The Listening Zone of Human Electrocorticographic Field Potential Recordings

Abstract

Intracranial electroencephalographic (icEEG) recordings provide invaluable insights into neural dynamics in humans due to their unmatched spatiotemporal resolution. Yet, such recordings reflect the combined activity of multiple underlying generators, confounding the ability to resolve spatially distinct neural sources. To empirically quantify the listening zone of icEEG recordings, we computed the correlations between signals as a function of distance (expressed as full width at half maximum; FWHM) between 8,752 recording sites in 71 patients implanted with either subdural electrodes (SDE), stereo-encephalography electrodes (sEEG), or high-density sEEG electrodes. As expected, for both SDE and sEEG electrodes, higher frequency signals exhibited a sharper fall off relative to lower frequency signals. For broadband high gamma (BHG) activity, the mean FWHM of SDEs (6.6 {+/-} 2.5 mm) and sEEGs in gray matter (7.14 {+/-} 1.7 mm) was not significantly different, however the FWHM for low frequencies recorded by sEEGs was 2.45 mm smaller than SDEs. White matter sEEG electrodes showed much lower power for frequencies 17 to 200 Hz (q < 0.01) and a much broader decay (11.3 {+/-} 3.2 mm) than gray matter electrodes (7.14 {+/-} 1.7 mm). The use of a bipolar referencing scheme significantly lowered FWHM for sEEG electrodes, as compared with a white matter reference or a common average reference. These results outline the influence of array design, spectral bands, and referencing schema on local field potential recordings and source localization in icEEG recordings in humans. The metrics we derive have immediate relevance to the analysis and interpretation of both cognitive and epileptic data.