Multi-centre normative brain mapping of intracranial EEG lifespan patterns in the human brain

Understanding healthy human brain function is crucial to identify and map pathological tissue within it. Whilst previous studies have mapped intracranial EEG (icEEG) from non-epileptogenic brain regions, they often neglect age and sex effects. Further, they are limited by small sample sizes due to the modality's invasive nature. This study substantially expands the subject pool compared to existing literature, to create a multi-centre, normative map of brain activity which considers the effects of age, sex and recording hospital. Using interictal icEEG recordings from [Formula: see text] subjects across 15 centres, we constructed a normative map of non-pathological brain activity by regressing age and sex on relative band power in five frequency bands. A linear mixed model was implemented to account for the hospital effect. Variable importance was assessed using standard statistical measures, and regression coefficients (and their standard errors) were analysed at both whole-brain and regional scales. Recording hospital significantly impacted normative icEEG maps in all frequency bands, and age was a more influential predictor of band power than sex. The age effect varied by frequency band, but no spatial patterns were observed at the region-specific level. Certainty about regression coefficients was also frequency band specific and moderately impacted by sample size. The concept of a normative map is well-established in neuroscience research and particularly relevant to the icEEG modality, which does not allow healthy control baselines. Our key results regarding the hospital site and age effect guide future work utilising normative maps in icEEG.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Brain Structure and Function
Published
2025-08-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-025-02988-4
Primary Topic
Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Multi-centre normative brain mapping of intracranial EEG lifespan patterns in the human brain

Friederike Moeller, Martin Tisdall, John S. Duncan, Ajai Chari et al.
Brain Structure and Function
Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
article

Multi-centre normative brain mapping of intracranial EEG lifespan patterns in the human brain

Friederike Moeller, Martin Tisdall, John S. Duncan, Ajai Chari, Yujiang Wang, Elizabeth Donner, Peter N. Taylor, Christopher I. Petkov, Beate Diehl, Gabrielle M. Schroeder, Jiajie Mo, Csaba Kozma, Frances Turner, Nebras M. Warsi, Matthew A. Howard, Raheel Ahmed, George M. Ibrahim, Gerard Hall, Kai Zhang, Heather Woodhouse, Callum Simpson
article en

Abstract

Understanding healthy human brain function is crucial to identify and map pathological tissue within it. Whilst previous studies have mapped intracranial EEG (icEEG) from non-epileptogenic brain regions, they often neglect age and sex effects. Further, they are limited by small sample sizes due to the modality's invasive nature. This study substantially expands the subject pool compared to existing literature, to create a multi-centre, normative map of brain activity which considers the effects of age, sex and recording hospital. Using interictal icEEG recordings from [Formula: see text] subjects across 15 centres, we constructed a normative map of non-pathological brain activity by regressing age and sex on relative band power in five frequency bands. A linear mixed model was implemented to account for the hospital effect. Variable importance was assessed using standard statistical measures, and regression coefficients (and their standard errors) were analysed at both whole-brain and regional scales. Recording hospital significantly impacted normative icEEG maps in all frequency bands, and age was a more influential predictor of band power than sex. The age effect varied by frequency band, but no spatial patterns were observed at the region-specific level. Certainty about regression coefficients was also frequency band specific and moderately impacted by sample size. The concept of a normative map is well-established in neuroscience research and particularly relevant to the icEEG modality, which does not allow healthy control baselines. Our key results regarding the hospital site and age effect guide future work utilising normative maps in icEEG.

Brain Structure and FunctionVol. 230(7)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), Queen Mary University of London (GB), Great Ormond Street Hospital (GB), Hospital for Sick Children (CA), University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (US), Beijing Tian Tan Hospital (CN), National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (GB), University College London (GB), Newcastle University (GB)
UK Research and Innovation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Epilepsy Research UK, Hospital for Sick Children, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, National Institutes of Health, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 79%
Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.