Colloquia/Seminars
Time: 11:00am, May 9, 2025
Venue: Lecture Hall, Shanghai Brain Center
Speaker: Prof. Adam Williamson
Professor, Linköping University, Sweden
Research Team Leader, St. Anne’s University Hospital, Czech Republic
Biography:
Adam Williamson is a Professor of Neurophysiology at Linköping University, Sweden, and a Research Team Leader at St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno, Czech Republic.
He received a bachelors and masters in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University, USA, and obtained his doctorate at the Technische Universität Ilmenau, Germany. Previously, he served as research scientist at the Institute of Neuroscience (INS), a part of Inserm at Aix-Marseille University (AMU) in France. He is a recipient of 5 European Research Council (ERC) grants.
His research focuses on in vivo applications of new electronic devices and methods of brain stimulation. His most recent ERC Consolidator grant specifically focuses on non-invasive deep brain modulation using Temporal Interference, a new non-invasive deep brain modulation method, to control epileptic brain activity in drug-resistant patients suffering from Epilepsy.
Abstract:
Approximately 30% of patients with focal epilepsy are not candidates for surgical resection due to the involvement of eloquent cortex, highlighting the need for effective non-invasive alternatives. In this study, we applied non-invasive temporal interference (TI) electrical stimulation to 13 patients with suspected mesiotemporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) undergoing intracranial stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG). TI targeted the hippocampus using amplitude-modulated electric fields at 130 Hz, delivered via either low (1 kHz + 1.13 kHz) or high (9 kHz + 9.13 kHz) carrier frequencies.
We observed a statistically significant reduction in interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) and fast-ripple high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) during TI stimulation, with suppression localized to the hippocampal focus and reduced propagation brain-wide. These effects persisted after stimulation ended, indicating a strong carry-over effect. In contrast, sham stimulation using unmodulated kHz frequencies showed only superficial cortical effects that diminished with increasing frequency and depth.
Our findings reveal that TI can non-invasively and focally engage deep brain structures involved in epilepsy, with biophysical mechanisms distinct from kHz conduction block. TI may offer a valuable tool for pre-surgical mapping and therapy, especially in patients unsuitable for resective surgery or implantable devices such as DBS or RNS.