High-Frequency Oscillations and Epileptogenic Network

Epilepsy is a network disease caused by aberrant neocortical large-scale connectivity spanning regions on the scale of several centimeters. High-frequency oscillations, characterized by the 80-600 Hz signals in electroencephalography, have been proven to be a promising biomarker of epilepsy that can be used in assessing the severity and susceptibility of epilepsy as well as the location of the epileptogenic zone. However, the presence of a high-frequency oscillation network remains a topic of debate as high-frequency oscillations have been previously thought to be incapable of propagation, and the relationship between high-frequency oscillations and the epileptogenic network has rarely been discussed. Some recent studies reported that high-frequency oscillations may behave like networks that are closely relevant to the epileptogenic network. Pathological high-frequency oscillations are network-driven phenomena and elucidate epileptogenic network development; high-frequency oscillations show different characteristics coincident with the epileptogenic network dynamics, and cross-frequency coupling between high-frequency oscillations and other signals may mediate the generation and propagation of abnormal discharges across the network.

Automated summary

Epilepsy is a network disease caused by aberrant neocortical large-scale connectivity. High-frequency oscillations have been identified as a promising biomarker for assessing the severity and susceptibility of epilepsy, but their existence as a network and their relationship with the epileptogenic network are still debated.