Electrocorticography (ECoG) Explained! | Neuroscience Methods 101

Electrocorticography, or ECoG, is a neuroscience method that records brain activity directly from the cortex.
ECoG is a type of invasive EEG, also known as intracranial EEG. During brain surgery sensors are place in a grid directly on the surface of the cortex. These ECoG sensor grids record electrical activity of the brain. This electrical activity is the result of groups of neurons being activated.
ECoG is similar to electroencephalography, or EEG. However, EEG is a non-invasive method with sensors on the head. Since, for EEG signals need to travel through the skull, the signals are weak and heavily distorted. In other words, ECoG signals have a much better spatial resolution and are much clearer to identify.
Nevertheless, given the invasive nature of ECoG, it is only done when it is medically relevant. For example, ECoG is used in epilepsy patients to identify epileptogenic zones, which are areas that cause seizures. If ECoG is placed in patients, research can be done if the patient consents. ECoG research is quite similar to EEG research and involves analysis of event related potentials or time frequency analysis.
One limitation of ECoG is that it cannot record deep in the brain. For this stereotactic EEG (or stereo EEG, sEEG) is a better solution. Nevertheless, ECoG is a valuable tool. In some cases ECoG is implanted chronically, and can be used in combination with neurostimulation and brain-computer interfaces. One application of BCI ECoG is the control of prosthetic limbs by encoding online brain activity.
References:
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Benabid, A. L., Costecalde, T., Torres, N., Moro, C., Aksenova, T., Eliseyev, A., Charvet, G., Sauter, F., Ratel, D., Mestais, C., Pollak, P., & Chabardes, S. (2011). Deep brain stimulation: BCI at large, where are we going to?. Progress in brain research, 194, 71-82. doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53...
Greenlee, J. D., Behroozmand, R., Larson, C. R., Jackson, A. W., Chen, F., Hansen, D. R., Oya, H., Kawasaki, H., & Howard, M. A., 3rd (2013). Sensory-motor interactions for vocal pitch monitoring in non-primary human auditory cortex. PloS one, 8(4), e60783. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....
Hermes, D., Vansteensel, M. J., Albers, et al. (2011). Functional MRI-based identification of brain areas involved in motor imagery for implantable brain-computer interfaces. Journal of neural engineering, 8(2), 025007. doi.org/10.1088/1741-2560/8/2...
Ibáñez, A., Cardona, J. F., Dos Santos, Y. V., et al. (2013). Motor-language coupling: direct evidence from early Parkinson's disease and intracranial cortical recordings. Cortex, 49(4), 968-984. doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2012...
Kubánek, J., Miller, K. J., Ojemann, J. G.,et al. (2009). Decoding flexion of individual fingers using electrocorticographic signals in humans. Journal of neural engineering, 6(6), 066001. doi.org/10.1088/1741-2560/6/6...
Mercier, M. R., Dubarry, A. S., Tadel, F., et al. (2022). Advances in human intracranial electroencephalography research, guidelines and good practices. NeuroImage, 260, 119438. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage....
Moly, A., Costecalde, T., Martel, F., et al. (2022). An adaptive closed-loop ECoG decoder for long-term and stable bimanual control of an exoskeleton by a tetraplegic. Journal of neural engineering, 19(2), 10.1088/1741-2552/ac59a0. doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/ac59a0
Yanagisawa, T., Hirata, M., Saitoh, Y., et al. (2012). Electrocorticographic control of a prosthetic arm in paralyzed patients. Annals of neurology, 71(3), 353-361. doi.org/10.1002/ana.22613
Narrated by: Miles Wischnewski
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