Vagus nerve stimulation lead durability: Insights from an extensive monocentric single-operator adult series.

Background: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an established surgical option for neuromodulation. Lead failure is a significant complication mainly reported in children.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all VNS-related surgeries for refractory epilepsy in adults performed by a single experienced surgeon at a French national referral center from November 2011 to March 2023.

Medial pulvinar stimulation for focal drug-resistant epilepsy: interim 12-month results of the PULSE study.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the medial pulvinar nucleus (PuM) in reducing seizure frequency and addressing comorbidities in patients with drug and vagal nerve-resistant focal epilepsy.

Methods: This is an open-label prospective treatment trial with a planned enrollment of 12 patients suffering from medically refractory epilepsy (Clinical trial gov NCT04692701), for which the interim 12-month post-implantation results for the first 6 patients are being reported. Inclusion criteria were focal epilepsy not suitable for or after failed surgical intervention and previous failure of neurostimulation therapies (vagus nerve stimulation or anterior thalamic nucleus DBS).

Non-invasive Temporal Interference Stimulation of the Hippocampus Suppresses Epileptic Biomarkers in Patients with Epilepsy: Biophysical Differences between Kilohertz and Amplitude Modulated Stimulation.

Medication refractory focal epilepsy creates a significant challenge, with approximately 30% of patients ineligible for surgery due to the involvement of eloquent cortex in the epileptogenic network. For such patients with limited surgical options, electrical neuromodulation represents a promising alternative therapy. In this study, we investigate the potential of non-invasive temporal interference (TI) electrical stimulation to reduce epileptic biomarkers in patients with epilepsy by comparing intracerebral recordings obtained before, during, and after TI stimulation, to recordings during low and high kHz frequency (HF) sham stimulation.

Stereoelectroencephalographic thermocoagulation in FLNA-positive heterotopia: Is it an effective treatment?

Periventricular nodular heterotopia (PVNH) is a neuronal migration disorder often associated with drug-resistant epilepsy. The epileptogenic zone network (EZN) in PVNH is generally large, contraindicating surgery. Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) can be proposed to map the EZN and perform radiofrequency thermocoagulation (THC) with an efficacy rate of approximately 65%.

Humour in trolley problems and other sacrificial dilemmas: killing is not funny at all.

Three studies were designed to explore a major criticism of sacrificial dilemmas, namely that their potential humorous aspects may distort moral decision-making. We collected moral responses (i.e.

Transient alteration of Awareness triggered by direct electrical stimulation of the brain.

Background: Awareness is a state of consciousness that enables a subject to interact with the environment. Transient alteration of awareness (AA) is a disabling sign of many types of epileptic seizures. The brain mechanisms of awareness and its alteration are not well known.

Psychiatric complications following SEEG-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulations in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

SEEG-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RF-TC) in the epileptogenic regions is a therapeutic option for patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy who may have or not indication for epilepsy surgery. The most common adverse events of RF-TC are seizures, headaches, somatic pain, and sensory-motor deficits. If RF-TC could lead to psychiatric complications is unknown.

Right-sided vagus nerve stimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy: A systematic review of the literature and perspectives.

Background: Right-sided vagus nerve stimulation (RS-VNS) is indicated when the procedure was deemed not technically feasible or too risky on the indicated left side.

Objective: The present study aims to systematically review the literature on RS-VNS, assessing its effectiveness and safety.

Methods: A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted: Pubmed/MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, Scopus, Embase and Web of science databases were searched from inception to August 13th,2023.

Modification of brain conductivity in human focal epilepsy: A model-based estimation from stereoelectroencephalography.

Objective: We have developed a novel method for estimating brain tissue electrical conductivity using low-intensity pulse stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) stimulation coupled with biophysical modeling. We evaluated the hypothesis that brain conductivity is correlated with the degree of epileptogenicity in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy.

Methods: We used bipolar low-intensity biphasic pulse stimulation (.

Vagus nerve stimulation allows to cease maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant depression: a retrospective monocentric case series.

Context: The use of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to reduce or stop electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in treatment-resistant depression seems promising. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of VNS on the reduction of ECT sessions and mood stabilization.

Methods: We conducted a monocentric retrospective case series of patients who suffered from treatment-resistant depression, treated with ECT and referred to our center for VNS.

Stereo-EEG-based ictal functional connectivity in patients with periventricular nodular heterotopia-related epilepsy.

Nodular heterotopia (NH)-related drug-resistant epilepsy is challenging due to the deep location of the NH and the complexity of the underlying epileptogenic network. Using ictal stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) and functional connectivity (FC) analyses in 14 patients with NH-related drug-resistant epilepsy, we aimed to determine the leading structure during seizures. For this purpose, we compared node IN and OUT strength between bipolar channels inside the heterotopia and inside gray matter, at the group level and at the individual level.

Controlled Li Alloying by Postsynthesis Electrochemical Treatment of CuZnSn(S, Se) Absorbers for Solar Cells.

Li-alloying of CuZnSn(S, Se) (CZTSSe) absorbers is widely accepted for its beneficial influence on the performance of CZTSSe-based thin film solar cells. Given the degraded morphology characteristic of absorbers synthesized in the presence of excess Li concentrations, it is speculated that Li may be best incorporated into the absorber after synthesis. Here, we report an innovative method to add Li to synthesized CZTSSe by an electrochemical treatment using a liquid electrolyte.

Correspondence between scalp-EEG and stereoelectroencephalography seizure-onset patterns in patients with MRI-negative drug-resistant focal epilepsy.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the relationship between scalp-EEG and stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) seizure-onset patterns (SOP) in patients with MRI-negative drug-resistant focal epilepsy.

Methods: We analyzed retrospectively 41 patients without visible lesion on brain MRI who underwent video-EEG followed by SEEG. We defined five types of SOPs on scalp-EEG and eight types on SEEG.

Permutation entropy-derived parameters to estimate the epileptogenic zone network.

Objective: Quantification of the epileptogenic zone network (EZN) most frequently implies analysis of seizure onset. However, important information can also be obtained from the postictal period, characterized by prominent changes in the EZN. We used permutation entropy (PE), a measure of signal complexity, to analyze the peri-ictal stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) signal changes with emphasis on the postictal state.

3D and Multimodal X-Ray Microscopy Reveals the Impact of Voids in CIGS Solar Cells.

Small voids in the absorber layer of thin-film solar cells are generally suspected to impair photovoltaic performance. They have been studied on Cu(In,Ga)Se cells with conventional laboratory techniques, albeit limited to surface characterization and often affected by sample-preparation artifacts. Here, synchrotron imaging is performed on a fully operational as-deposited solar cell containing a few tens of voids.

Complications of Intracranial Multimodal Monitoring for Neurocritical Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Intracranial multimodal monitoring (iMMM) is increasingly used for neurocritical care. However, concerns arise regarding iMMM invasiveness considering limited evidence in its clinical significance and safety profile. We conducted a synthesis of evidence regarding complications associated with iMMM to delineate its safety profile.

Non-invasive temporal interference electrical stimulation of the human hippocampus.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) via implanted electrodes is used worldwide to treat patients with severe neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, its invasiveness precludes widespread clinical use and deployment in research. Temporal interference (TI) is a strategy for non-invasive steerable DBS using multiple kHz-range electric fields with a difference frequency within the range of neural activity.

Human thalamic low-frequency oscillations correlate with expected value and outcomes during reinforcement learning.

Reinforcement-based adaptive decision-making is believed to recruit fronto-striatal circuits. A critical node of the fronto-striatal circuit is the thalamus. However, direct evidence of its involvement in human reinforcement learning is lacking.

The Oxford Utilitarianism Scale: Psychometric properties of a French adaptation (OUS-Fr).

It is well established that one's sense of morality may be readily influenced by one's culture, education, and life situation. Very few psychometric tools are currently available to measure facets of human morality in different cultures. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to develop a French adaptation of the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale (OUS-Fr) and formally evaluate its validity.

The role of quantitative markers in surgical prognostication after stereoelectroencephalography.

Objective: Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) is the reference method in the presurgical exploration of drug-resistant focal epilepsy. However, prognosticating surgery on an individual level is difficult. A quantified estimation of the most epileptogenic regions by searching for relevant biomarkers can be proposed for this purpose.

Ictal Fear during parietal seizures.

Ictal fear is characterized by subjective fear sensation and consistent clinical manifestations during seizures. This phenomenon is rarely observed in parietal seizures. We report anatomical electroclinical correlations of an SEEG-recorded seizure with prominent fear semiology.

Dimensionality and Ramping: Signatures of Sentence Integration in the Dynamics of Brains and Deep Language Models.

A sentence is more than the sum of its words: its meaning depends on how they combine with one another. The brain mechanisms underlying such semantic composition remain poorly understood. To shed light on the neural vector code underlying semantic composition, we introduce two hypotheses: (1) the intrinsic dimensionality of the space of neural representations should increase as a sentence unfolds, paralleling the growing complexity of its semantic representation; and (2) this progressive integration should be reflected in ramping and sentence-final signals.