Normative brain maps and changes in alpha rhythm in temporal epilepsy

In neuroimgaging, it is common to compare patients against normalised healthy controls to expose pathology. This approach is now gaining traction in neurophysiology as well. Recent studies have successfully identified abnormalities by using normative mapping based on magnetoencephalography (MEG) and intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) data. However, as acqusition of these data is not only expensive but also highly invasive, scalp EEG is starting to be considered as a valid alternative.

In this talk, I will introduce the use of scalp EEG normative maps and discuss the observed variation in the signal power across brain regions and time. I will describe the similarities of these maps to maps derived from iEEG and MEG data, and discuss how their potential to locate abnormal brain regions for individual patients. Finally, I will discuss differences in the alpha rhythm as measured with scalp EEG and MEG in temporal epilepsy patients.