Spatiotemporal aspects of slow-waves and seizures in humans

摘要

This commentary addresses two articles published in the currentnissue of Brain. The papers have in common the recording andnanalysis of neuronal activity in human cerebral cortex using a com-nbination of microscopic and macroscopic recording techniques, re-nvealing the spatiotemporal structure of this activity. The first articlenby Csercsa et al. (Occasional paper, page 2814) implements lam-ninar electrodes in different subjects suffering from intractable focalnepilepsy in terms of discharge focus mapping and surgical treat-nment. The authors investigate the laminar distribution of activity innslow-wave sleep, using both local field potentials—measuring thenextracellular potential within grey matter—and neuronal (unit)nfiring activity. This type of combined measurement has been stu-ndied extensively in animal experiments during slow-wave oscilla-ntions occurring in both anesthetized and natural sleep conditionsnand the hippocampus.