Classification of cortico-cortical evoked potential waveforms and their implications for brain anatomy.

OBJECTIVE

Cortico-cortical evoked potential (CCEP) waveforms typically exhibit two negative peaks, an early peak (N1, 10-50 ms) and a late peak (N2, 100-500 ms). We aimed to classify CCEP waveform morphologies and examine their anatomical distributions.

METHODS

CCEP waveforms were classified as follows: Type I showed a typical N1 peak latency (10-50 ms), whereas Types II and III showed delayed N1 peaks (50-100 ms and > 100 ms, respectively). Type IV represented positive responses with inverted morphology, and Type V represented multimodal responses. A total of 7928 CCEP waveforms obtained from subdural grid recordings in ten patients with focal epilepsy were manually reviewed to assess anatomical distribution.

RESULTS

Type I accounted for 49.8% of responses and was distributed around the terminal regions of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. Types II and III accounted for 43.2% and were distributed around the interhemispheric cortical surface and dorsal parietal region. Type IV responses were observed in postero-inferior lateral and temporal basal areas.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately half of CCEPs exhibited typical N1 (<50 ms) and N2 responses, while substantial morphological variants were also observed.

SIGNIFICANCE: This classification provides a neurophysiological framework for interpreting CCEP waveforms in relation to brain anatomy and connectivity. By linking waveform morphology to underlying white-matter pathways and terminal cortical properties, the framework offers a foundation for using CCEP features as candidate biomarkers in intraoperative language and functional network monitoring.