Sub-Project 1

Cognitive Mapping of the Human Brain with Intracranial EEG

OVERVIEW

This sub-project forms the scientific foundation of the entire Brain Co-Processors initiative. By recording electrical activity directly from the brains of epilepsy patients using stereo-EEG (sEEG) and electrocorticography (ECoG) electrodes, we build a detailed picture of how the human brain encodes vision, attention, working memory, decision-making, and motor function. These recordings provide the ground truth for designing neural co-processors that can restore these functions in stroke patients.

WHY EPILEPSY PATIENTS?

Epilepsy patients undergoing pre-surgical monitoring provide a rare and invaluable window into the live human brain at millisecond and millimeter resolution. These individuals have electrodes implanted in cortical and subcortical areas for clinical purposes; with their consent, we conduct cognitive experiments during their monitoring period. Their brain activity during tasks provides direct insights into the neural computations that co-processors need to replicate.

RESEARCH GOALS

Map neural activity across prefrontal, parietal, and inferotemporal cortex during attention, working memory, decision-making, and motor tasks using sEEG

Apply targeted electrical stimulation to understand the causal role of specific brain regions in cognition and to map cortico-cortical connectivity

Build India’s first large-scale, indexed database of human intracranial EEG recordings in standardized BIDS format

Develop a real-time AI tool to localize epileptic seizure onset zones and arrest seizure propagation with closed-loop stimulation

KEY TASKS

Patients perform carefully designed cognitive tasks during their monitoring: visual search and attention tasks, working memory tasks with distractors, economic decision-making, and self-initiated versus externally cued motor tasks. Resting state recordings (30 min) and task-based recordings (up to 60 min per day) are collected across sessions, respecting patient readiness and comfort.

INFRASTRUCTURE

  • sEEG recording hardware and software setup at all hospital partners
  • High-resolution (1000 Hz) eye-tracking integration for covert attention monitoring
  • Cloud-based BIDS-format database infrastructure in partnership with Pennsieve Data Management
  • Deep learning analysis pipeline (EEGNet, transformer models, embedding networks)
  • fMRI and diffusion MRI protocols for structural-functional integration

CLINICAL PARTNERS

  • Amrita Advanced Centre for Epilepsy (Kochi)
  • MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospitals (Bengaluru)
  • Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute (Thiruvananthapuram)
  • Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital (Pune)

EXPECTED OUTPUTS

  • Publicly released sEEG and video-EEG database with data from 100+ patients by Year 5
  • AI-based seizure localization tool validated across Indian hospital cohorts
  • Publications revealing neural codes for attention, memory, vision, and motor function in the human brain