Localization and Tracking of Neural Silences in the Brain

An ongoing challenge confronting basic scientists as well as those at the translational interface is the ability to access a rapid and cost-effective tool to detect and characterize neural silences.

“Silences” or “regions of silence” refer to areas of brain tissue with abnormal, reduced, or no neural activity. These regions reflect ischemic, necrotic, or lesional tissue, resected tissue (e.g., after epilepsy surgery), or tumors. Dynamic regions of silence also arise in spreading depolarizations (SDs), which are slow-propagating waves of silence in the cerebral cortex and are reliable biomarkers for worsening brain injuries. Increasing evidence shows that clustered and prolonged SD events are devastating and can cause irreversible secondary brain damage after the primary brain injury.