Protocol for detecting and analyzing non-oscillatory traveling waves from high-spatiotemporal-resolution human electrophysiological recordings

Veronica M Zarr; Jyun-You Liou; Edward M Merricks; Tyler S Davis; Kyle Thomson; Bradley Greger; Paul A House; Ronald G Emerson; Robert R Goodman; Guy M McKhann 2nd; Sameer A Sheth; Catherine A Schevon; John D Rolston; Elliot H Smith

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2025.103659

Protocol for detecting and analyzing non-oscillatory traveling waves from high-spatiotemporal-resolution human electrophysiological recordings

STAR Protoc. 2025 Mar 21;6(1):103659. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2025.103659. Epub 2025 Feb 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Neurosurgery Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84117, USA. Electronic address: veronica.zarr@utah.edu.
² Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA.
³ Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
⁴ Neurosurgery Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84117, USA.
⁵ Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84117, USA.
⁶ School of Biological & Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA.
⁷ Neurosurgical Associates, LLC, Murray, UT 84107, USA.
⁸ Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY 10021, USA.
⁹ Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY 10075, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
¹¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
¹² Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
¹³ Neurosurgery Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84117, USA; Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: e.h.smith@utah.edu.

Abstract

Innovations in electrophysiological recordings and computational analytic techniques enable high-resolution analysis of neural traveling waves. Here, we present a protocol for the detection and analysis of traveling waves from multi-day microelectrode array human electrophysiological recordings through a multi-linear regression statistical approach using point estimator data. We describe steps for traveling wave detection, feature characterization, and propagation pattern analysis. This protocol may improve our understanding of the coordination of neurons during non-oscillatory neural dynamics. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Smith et al.¹.

Keywords: Behavior; Cognitive Neuroscience; Neuroscience.

MeSH terms

Electrophysiological Phenomena* / physiology
Electrophysiology* / methods
Humans
Microelectrodes
Neurons / physiology