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Surgical and Electrophysiological Techniques for Single-Neuron Recordings in Human Epilepsy Patients

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Extracellular Recording Approaches

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 134))

Abstract

Extracellular recordings of single-neuron activity in awake behaving animals are one of the principal techniques used to decipher the neuronal basis of behavior. While only routinely possible in animals, rare clinical procedures make it possible to perform such recordings in awake human beings. Such human single-neuron recordings have started to reveal insights into the neural mechanisms of learning, memory, cognition, attention, and decision-making in humans. Here, we describe in detail the methods we developed to perform such recordings in patients undergoing invasive monitoring for localization of epileptic seizures. We describe three aspects: the neurosurgical procedure to implant depth electrodes with embedded microwires, electrophysiological methods to perform experiments in the clinical settings, and data processing steps to isolate single neurons. Together, this chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the methods needed to perform single-neuron recordings in humans during psychophysical tasks.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We use the Framelink® Stereotactic Planning Software suite (Stealth Station, Medtronic) for planning at our institution. There are however many alternative solutions that are just as reliable (e.g., Brain lab, Radionics).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computation and Neural Systems Program, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Juri Minxha & Ueli Rutishauser

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Juri Minxha, Adam N. Mamelak & Ueli Rutishauser

  3. Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ueli Rutishauser

Authors
  1. Juri Minxha
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  2. Adam N. Mamelak
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  3. Ueli Rutishauser
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ueli Rutishauser .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology & Immunology and Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    Roy V. Sillitoe

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Minxha, J., Mamelak, A.N., Rutishauser, U. (2018). Surgical and Electrophysiological Techniques for Single-Neuron Recordings in Human Epilepsy Patients. In: Sillitoe, R. (eds) Extracellular Recording Approaches. Neuromethods, vol 134. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7549-5_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7549-5_14

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7548-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7549-5

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