Hemispherotomy leads to persistent sleep-like slow waves in the isolated cortex of awake humans.

ABSTRACT: Hemispherotomy is a neurosurgical procedure for treating refractory epilepsy, which entails disconnecting a significant portion of the cortex, potentially encompassing an entire hemisphere, from its cortical and subcortical connections. While this intervention prevents the spread of seizures, it raises important questions. Given the complete isolation from sensory-motor pathways, it remains unclear whether the disconnected cortex retains any form of inaccessible awareness. More broadly, the activity patterns that large portions of the deafferented cortex can sustain in awake humans remain poorly understood. We address these questions by exploring for the first time the electroencephalographic (EEG) state of the isolated cortex during wakefulness before and after surgery in 10 pediatric pat

SUBMITTER: Colombo MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12530565 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature