Signatures of Electrical Stimulation Driven Network Interactions in the Human Limbic System

Stimulation-evoked signals are starting to be used as biomarkers to indicate the state and health of brain networks. The human limbic network, often targeted for brain stimulation therapy, is involved in emotion and memory processing. Previous anatomic, neurophysiological, and functional studies suggest distinct subsystems within the limbic network (Rolls, 2015). Studies using intracranial electrical stimulation, however, have emphasized the similarities of the evoked waveforms across the limbic network. We test whether these subsystems have distinct stimulation-driven signatures. In eight patients (four male, four female) with drug-resistant epilepsy, we stimulated the limbic system with single-pulse electrical stimulation. Reliable corticocortical evoked potentials (CCEPs) were measured between hippocampus and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and between the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, the CCEP waveform in the PCC after hippocampal stimulation showed a unique and reliable morphology, which we term the “limbic Hippocampus-Anterior nucleus of the thalamus-Posterior cingulate, HAP-wave.” This limbic HAP-wave was visually distinct and separately decoded from the CCEP waveform in ACC after amygdala stimulation. Diffusion MRI data show that the measured end points in the PCC overlap with the end points of the parolfactory cingulum bundle rather than the parahippocampal cingulum, suggesting that the limbic HAP-wave may travel through fornix, mammillary bodies, and the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT). This was further confirmed by stimulating the ANT, which evoked the same limbic HAP-wave but with an earlier latency. Limbic subsystems have unique stimulation-evoked signatures that may be used in the future to help network pathology diagnosis. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The limbic system is often compromised in diverse clinical conditions, such as epilepsy or Alzheimer’s disease, and characterizing its typical circuit responses may provide diagnostic insight. Stimulation-evoked waveforms have been used in the motor system to diagnose circuit pathology. We translate this framework to limbic subsystems using human intracranial stereo EEG (sEEG) recordings that measure deeper brain areas. Our sEEG recordings describe a stimulation-evoked waveform characteristic to the memory and spatial subsystem of the limbic network that we term the “limbic HAP-wave.” The limbic HAP-wave follows anatomic white matter pathways from hippocampus to thalamus to the posterior cingulum and shows promise as a distinct biomarker of signaling in the human brain memory and spatial limbic network.