Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 9, 2026
A Multimodal Imaging- and Stimulation-based Method of Evaluating Connectivity-related Brain Excitability in Patients with Epilepsy
Published on: November 13, 2016
TMS combined with EEG in genetic generalized epilepsy: A phase II diagnostic accuracy study
Vasilios K Kimiskidis1, Alkiviadis Tsimpiris2, Philippe Ryvlin3
1Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece.
Objectives:
(A) To develop a TMS-EEG stimulation and data analysis protocol in genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). (B) To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of TMS-EEG in GGE.
Methods:
Pilot experiments resulted in the development and optimization of a paired-pulse TMS-EEG protocol at rest, during hyperventilation (HV), and post-HV combined with multi-level data analysis. This protocol was applied in 11 controls (C) and 25 GGE patients (P), further dichotomized into responders to antiepileptic drugs (R, n=13) and non-responders (n-R, n=12).Features (n=57) extracted from TMS-EEG responses after multi-level analysis were given to a feature selection scheme and a Bayesian classifier, and the accuracy of assigning participants into the classes P-C and R-nR was computed.
Results:
On the basis of the optimal feature subset, the cross-validated accuracy of TMS-EEG for the classification P-C was 0.86 at rest, 0.81 during HV and 0.92 at post-HV, whereas for R-nR the corresponding figures are 0.80, 0.78 and 0.65, respectively. Applying a fusion approach on all conditions resulted in an accuracy of 0.84 for the classification P-C and 0.76 for the classification R-nR.
Conclusion:
TMS-EEG can be used for diagnostic purposes and for assessing the response to antiepileptic drugs.
Significance:
TMS-EEG holds significant diagnostic potential in GGE.
