Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 11, 2025
Measuring Neural and Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination of Event-Related Brain Potentials
Published on: November 15, 2014
Behavior-iEEG-Spectral-Power-Correlation: Defining Neural Substrates of Naturalistic Behavior
Brian Ervin1, Clayton Frink1, Jason Buroker1
1Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Objective:
Intracranial language localization with electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) and high-gamma modulation (HGM) mapping relies on artificial, repetitive tasks, requiring sustained cooperation from patients. Herein, we tested the validity of unstructured, interpersonal, naturalistic conversation for language localization, using a novel methodology: Behavior-iEEG-Spectral-Power correlation (BESPoC). We first validated BESPoC against ESM, HGM, and neuropsychological outcomes using well-established language tasks, then demonstrated the validity of naturalistic conversation.
Methods:
We included 134 patients (59 females), aged 2-29 years, undergoing standard-of-care stereo-electroencephalography monitoring who engaged in picture naming, auditory naming, story listening, and conversed with a family member. ESM and HGM analysis were performed using established methods. BESPoC methodology quantified correlation between stereo-electroencephalography spectral power from task recordings, obviating the need for any trial-based epochs, and behavioral markers. The large sample size allowed mixed-effects modeling to compare BESPoC with HGM and ESM.
Results:
BESPoC showed high specificity (0.79-0.83) and sensitivity (0.64-0.86) for localizing HGM language sites across the tasks. BESPoC also compared well with HGM across all language tasks for localizing ESM speech/language sites. With conventional tasks, BESPoC was superior to HGM for modeling neuropsychological deficits seen, despite preserving ESM speech/language sites. Naturalistic conversation compared well with standard tasks for localization of HGM and ESM language sites, and determined neuropsychological outcomes better than conventional tasks.
Interpretation:
Using BESPoC methodology naturalistic conversation is shown to produce valid cortical language maps of both expressive and receptive language, and determine neuropsychological outcomes after epilepsy surgery. ANN NEUROL 2025;98:1096-1110.
