Multifractal spatiotemporal dynamics in human epileptiform stereoelectroencephalography recordings

Objective.Multifractal formalism introduces an invaluable framework for the investigation of nonlinear, scale-invariant features across multiple time scales in non-stationary time series data.Approach.In this context, we sought to explore multifractal features defining spatiotemporal correlations in seizure activity, by applying multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) to stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) recordings from five patients with refractory, focal temporal epilepsy, who underwent subsequent surgical removal of the temporal lobe and achieved seizure freedom.Main results.To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to report evidence for a multifractal architecture underscoring sEEG-recorded epileptiform signalsin vivo, suggesting a fundamental propensity for scale-invariance in electrophysiological human brain recordings. Importantly, dynamical MFDFA-derived features captured altered spatiotemporal trends through the pre-ictal, ictal and post-ictal states, and also across anatomical brain regions. Larger fluctuations (deviations) in these metrics were observed to varying extents across resected temporal lobe structures, as compared to more constrained dynamics in non-resected networks.Significance.MFDFA-derived metrics were statistically analyzed and found to capture unique features from the sEEG data, with temporal variations across anatomical brain networks offering a potentially useful tool for the visualization, quantification and interpretation of network involvement in the onset and evolution of seizure activity. These results underscore the importance of investigating high-complexity dynamics in intracranial sEEG recordings and their potential utility towards surgical decision-making in patients with medically intractable epilepsy.