Current Studies

Various speech and hand motor tasks are conducted in the EMU. Patients who have been implanted with SEEG electrodes will be recruited for this study. The main premise of this study is presenting stimuli to these individuals, or asking them to perform particular tasks to increase understanding of how the brain supports these abilities. Since different experiments target different cortical regions, each patient will participate in an experiment that is relevant to their electrode placement. Each session, lasting no more than 1.5 hours, includes breaks every 15 minutes.

Eye Tracking Task 

This is a standard delay to match task. This task requires patients to fixate on a central dot and saccade to dots in one of four quadrants.

Navigation Task 

This study explores how playing a computer game affects memory formation and retrieval. 

Audiovisual Memory Task

The patients will participate in a visual-auditory task using the sensory cart. 

Motor Task 

In this task the patient will perform two different motor activities: Cued Movement and 2D. 

Naturalistic Movie Task 

Participants will be watching a short movie “Bang! You’re Dead”, a 1961 episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” , and will then will be asked to recognize different movie clips.

Language Learning Task 

 Patients will be listening to different speech and then asked to label each speech segments as New or Old. 

Intracranial EEG Signal Analysis: Quantification of the Signal Frequency and Topographic Localization

This study evaluates the use of image processing techniques in the management of patients undergoing invasive intracranial recording for refractory epilepsy.

Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction and Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

This study involves the collection and analysis of clinical data from participants with epilepsy. 

Women with Epilepsy Across the Lifespan

This study aims to investigate whether women with epilepsy (WWE) receive care for gender-specific and sex-specific health issues as recommended in guidelines. 

Sign up for the registry here!

Neuromodulation and Comorbidities in Refractory Epilepsy

The research aims to collect comprehensive data related to epilepsy and outcomes associated with the neuromodulation devices (VNS, DBS).

CaNadian Observational Study of Epilepsy (CANOE)

The overall goal of the study is to broadly characterize epilepsy in the general Canadian population, explore etiology as well as the determinants of health outcomes in people with epilepsy.

Outcome of Epilepsy Surgery in Patients with Medically Resistant Epilepsy

This is a genetic sub-study that will try and correlate surgical outcome and genetic testing results. 

Structure-function Relationship in Epilepsy: How Brain MRI features influences EEG Activity (MRI2EEG)

This study seeks to investigate the correlation between brain structure and activity in individuals with epilepsy, a neurological disorder impacting approximately 0.7% of the global population.

Ultra-High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Stereotactic Neurosurgery

This study is for adults who are scheduled for stereotactic neurosurgery and/or Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) surgery. The purpose of this study is to investigate the utility of using imaging techniques at ultra-high field for visualizing brain structures that are treatment targets for neurological disorders, such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

A Study of Neural Excitability in Human Patients Undergoing Brain Tissue Resections for the Treatment of Medically Resistant Epilepsy 

This study aims to investigate the correlation between changes in intrinsic cell properties within resected areas and surgical outcomes in patients undergoing epilepsy surgery.