Nonlinear Interdependencies of EEG Signals in Human Intracranially Recorded Temporal Lobe Seizures

The degree of interdependence between intracranial EEG channels was investigated in four epileptic patients with complex partial seizures of mesial temporal lobe origin. With a new method to characterize nonlinear dynamical interdependence-the mutual nonlinear prediction-we demonstrated here a possibility to quantify, during epileptic seizures, the relationships between EEG signals of electrode contacts in the epileptogenic area. During the interictal period, the degree of nonlinear interdependences were very low or absent. In contrast, it was found that transient patterns of nonlinear interdependences emerge at the initial spread of the seizure, during essential parts of its development, and at seizure end, but the maintenance of these interactions are not observed throughout the seizure activity. These results suggest that the nonlinear associations plays an important role in epileptogenesis, and that the process of neuronal entrainment during seizure onset involves a transient interaction between a distributed network of neuronal aggregates, but the maintenance of this interaction is not required for sustained seizure activity. Furthermore, this technique can describe properly the spatio-temporal organisation of the seizures of medio-temporal lobe origin and could become a very useful tool to aid the localization of the epileptogenic regions at the origin of epileptic seizures and their pathways of propagation.