Epilepsy Intractable
Conditions
Keywords
Epilepsy, Decision-making, Memory, Depth Electrode
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to examine how memories of past experiences are used to guide behavior in novel situations through the cognitive process of abstraction. This project examines how abstract representations are learned, whether and how they support generalization to novel situations, and whether and how they support analogical reasoning.
Detailed description
Despite the importance of abstraction for human cognition, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and their disruption by disease or injury. The goal of this research is to develop a circuit-level understanding of abstraction to enable the development of new treatments for the devastating effects of cognitive disorders in which abstraction fails. As part of this study, investigators will conduct experiments that utilize the rare opportunity to record in-vivo from human single neurons simultaneously in multiple brain areas in patients undergoing treatment for drug resistant epilepsy. Researchers will investigate three overarching hypotheses on the neural substrate of abstraction. Aim 1: to determine the dynamics of learning abstract representations. Aim 2: to decipher how abstract representations facilitate generalization. Aim 3: to decipher how abstract representations facilitate analogical reasoning. The expected outcomes of this work are a characterization of how abstract neural representations are formed, how they enable generalization to novel stimuli and tasks, and how they enable analogical reasoning. Participants in this study are patients undergoing invasive monitoring for suspected focal epilepsy with depth electrodes. Subjects will conduct a variety of cognitive tests on a computer placed in front of them during their hospital stay. Participating hospitals in this study are Cedars-Sinai, UC Davis, and Barrow Neurological Institute.
Interventions
Devices listed are components of a single intervention that includes: Record patient responses (Cedrus RB-844), record neuronal activity (Neurolynx) from electrodes (Adtech Behnke-Fried), apply intermittent electrical stimulation (Blackrock Cerestim)
Sponsors
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
University of California, Davis
Barrow Neurological Institute
Columbia University
University of California, Los Angeles
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Intractable epilepsy, undergoing invasive monitoring * Age ≥18 * Full Scale Intelligence Quotient \> 70 * Ability to comprehend and perform simple behavioral tasks by pressing buttons on laptop computer in response to questions.
Exclusion criteria
* Determination by clinicians and investigators that a patient is unable to complete the behavioral tasks required for the protocol due to either cognitive limits, psychological limits, or pain.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neuronal population activity | 3 years | Proportion of experiment sessions in which abstract representation emerged following successful learning of the task by the subject. |
| Facilitation of generalization | 3 years | Strength of correlation between the presence of abstract representations at the neuronal level and the subjects ability to perform generalization. |
| Effect of electrical stimulation | 3 years | Proportion of experiment sessions in which electrical stimulation to the hippocampus disrupted abstract representations. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORUeli Rutishauser, PhD
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAdam Mamelak, MD
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Outcome results
None listed