Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Human Emotion Network

Intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings make it possible to obtain direct measures of emotion network dynamics not possible with other methods. This study proposes to conduct a multimodal assessment of emotions in patients with epilepsy who are undergoing surgery for seizure localization. Electrodes will be placed in sites based on the clinical needs of each patient and will include sites within and outside of the emotion network. The research study team will examine measures of behavior, autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, and subjective experience to continuous iEEG recordings to determine how emotion network dynamics relate to emotions and affective symptoms. Affective symptoms are common in epilepsy, with nearly one third of patients meeting diagnostic criteria for a severe anxiety or depressive disorder during their lifetimes. This clinical population offers a unique opportunity to obtain direct recordings of emotion network activity with concurrent measures of emotion physiology and behavior. The aims of this study seeks to determine how emotion network activity relates to naturalistic affective behaviors (Aim 1), whether we can uncover the unique neural signatures of discrete emotions and examine their relation to task-based measures of emotional reactivity (Aim 2), and whether electrical stimulation of emotion network changes network activity and alters emotions, mood, and anxiety (Aim 3). Together, these aims will help to uncover the neural mechanisms that produce, sense, and regulate emotions. These results should heavily impact the current understanding of the neurobiological systems that underlie affective symptoms and, therefore, will have significant implications for identifying biomarkers of system dysfunction to guide development of new treatments.