Brittany Scheid, a Ph.D. student at the CNT, presented her work this week on controllability dynamics in the context of responsive neurostimulation (RNS) in epilepsy patients. Average controllability, she explained, is a measure of specific brain regions’ ability to affect their surrounding networks.
By applying clinical electrode recordings to models of epileptic network connectivity, Scheid demonstrated that the average controllability of underlying networks is constantly changing.
Additionally, Scheid’s analysis of clinical data revealed that RNS electrode implants were most effective when placed peripheral to the actual seizure onset zone.
These findings may contribute to our understanding of not only how seizures spread in epileptic networks, but also how they might be stopped even before they begin.