Schedule of Events | Symposia

Task-Dependent Changes in Aperiodic Neural Activity Reveal Glioma Subtype and Cognitive Error Profiles

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Youssef Sibih¹ (youssef.sibih@ucsf.edu), Niels Olshausen¹, Jasleen Kaur¹, Emily Cunningham², Sanjeev Herr¹, Vardhaan Ambati¹, Saritha Krishna¹, Alex Aabedi¹, Andy Daniel¹, David Brang², Shawn Hervey-Jumper¹; ¹University of California, San Francisco, Department of Neurological Surgery, ²University of Michigan, Department of Psychology

Electrophysiological signals exhibit both periodic and aperiodic properties. Periodic oscillations are associated with numerous physiological and cognitive processes. Emerging evidence demonstrates the aperiodic component 1/f slope represents putative physiological interpretations, including excitation-inhibition (E/I) balance. Our study analyzes the power spectral density's aperiodic component (1/f slope) of glioma-infiltrated cortex to evaluate E/I imbalance across glioma subtypes in resting state and cognitive tasks. Electrocorticography data were analyzed from glioma patients. The 1/f slope was computed in the upper beta and high-gamma range (30-50Hz; 70-150Hz) for each electrode. Electrodes were classified as tumor-infiltrative or normal-appearing using MRI T2-FLAIR. Linear mixed-effects models examined differences in 1/f slopes across glioma subtypes, tissue types, and cognitive conditions (correct vs. incorrect trials in Picture-Naming and Auditory-Naming tasks). Single nucleus RNA sequencing of glioma tissues validated electrophysiological findings. Tumor-infiltrative electrodes exhibited lower 1/f slopes compared to normal-appearing electrodes (p<0.001), indicating excitation dominance. Glioblastoma had significantly lower 1/f slopes in tumor-infiltrative regions compared to astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma (p<0.001). During task-based analyses, incorrect trials in tumor-infiltrative regions showed lower 1/f slopes compared to correct trials (Picture-Naming: p=0.028; Auditory-Naming: p=0.0032), highlighting task-specific shifts toward excitation dominance. No significant differences were observed between trial response in normal-appearing tissue. Glioblastomas exhibited the most pronounced task-related E/I imbalances. RNA sequencing confirmed an excitatory transcriptomic profile in tumor-infiltrated cortical regions. Glioblastomas are associated with excitation-dominant cortical states and heightened task-related E/I imbalances, particularly during cognitive errors. The 1/f slope serves as a physiologically relevant measure for glioma-associated cortical dysfunction, linking electrophysiological changes to cognitive performance.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Multisensory