title: Studying task-related activity of individual neurons in the human brain.
abstract: Single-neuronal studies remain the gold standard for studying brain function. Here we describe a protocol for studying task-related single-neuronal activity in human subjects during neurosurgical procedures involving microelectrode recordings. This protocol has two phases: a preoperative phase and an intraoperative phase. During the preoperative phase, we discuss informed consent, equipment setup and behavioral testing. During the intraoperative phase, we discuss the procedure for microelectrode recordings. Because patients are often awake during these procedures, this protocol can be performed in conjunction with behavioral tasks for studying a variety of cognitive functions. We describe the protocol in detail and provide two examples of expected results. In addition, we discuss the potential difficulties and pitfalls related to intraoperative studies. This protocol takes ∼1.5 h to complete.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. shaun.patel@me.com
authors.forename: Shaun R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Sameer A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sheth
authors.forename: Clarissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martinez-Rubio
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mian
authors.forename: Wael F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Asaad
authors.forename: Jason L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gerrard
authors.forename: Churl-Su
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Darin D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.forename: Alice W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Flaherty
authors.forename: Benjamin D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: Ziv M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Emad N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Eskandar
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008839:Microelectrodes; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures