Spatial Neurophysiological Gradients at High Resolution Differentiate Tumor Types in the Human Cortex at the Tumor-Brain Interface
- 1Massachusetts General Hospital
Abstract
Brain tumors interact bidirectionally with neural circuits, but direct electrophysiological evidence in the human brain across tumor types remains limited. We analyzed intraoperative clinical, mesoscale, and high-density surface electroencephalography recordings from 100 participants undergoing tumor resection, epilepsy surgery, or deep brain stimulation. Population-averaged measures poorly separated diagnoses, whereas spatially resolved aperiodic exponent and high-gamma activity varied with both tumor distance and nearby tumor volume fraction across scales. Gradients differed among IDH-mutant glioma, IDH-wildtype glioblastoma, and metastases. Connectivity further distinguished infiltrative gliomas: beta coherence across tumor-brain connections was reduced in IDH-mutant tumors (p=0.0006; Kruskal-Wallis; mean coherence: tumor-brain 0.26, tumor-tumor 0.44, brain-brain 0.34), unlike IDH-wildtype tumors or metastases. Physiological abnormalities extended into radiographically normal-appearing brain, indicating tumor-type-dependent physiological signatures that may dynamically map the tumor-brain interface complementing structural imaging, with future possibilities as a spatial biomarker of tumor infiltration and network organization in humans.
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BibTeX
@misc{nelson2026spatial,
title = {{Spatial Neurophysiological Gradients at High Resolution Differentiate Tumor Types in the Human Cortex at the Tumor-Brain Interface}},
author = {T. Nelson and B. Hsueh and P. Hadar and I. Das and B. F. Coughlin and A. Mandal and T. Wilson and E. Peng and A. S. Perley and H. Rabbani and R. Ciordia and J. Zou and A. Bush and M. Vissani and H. Ghaith and J. Cahill and J. C. Yang and W. Munoz and E. F. Torio and A. C. Glaser and J. D. Bernstock and K. L. Collins and D. R. Cleary and H. K. Tiwana and A. J. Golby and P. S. Jones and B. D. Choi and B. V. Nahed and A. M. Raslan and Z. M. Williams and S. A. Dayeh and P. Nanda and R. M. Richardson and W. L. Bi and S. Tobochnik and D. P. Cahill and G. P. Dunn and S. S. Cash and A. C. Paulk},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.05.26364665},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.26364665v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Spatial Neurophysiological Gradients at High Resolution Differentiate Tumor Types in the Human Cortex at the Tumor-Brain Interface
AU - T. Nelson
AU - B. Hsueh
AU - P. Hadar
AU - I. Das
AU - B. F. Coughlin
AU - A. Mandal
AU - T. Wilson
AU - E. Peng
AU - A. S. Perley
AU - H. Rabbani
AU - R. Ciordia
AU - J. Zou
AU - A. Bush
AU - M. Vissani
AU - H. Ghaith
AU - J. Cahill
AU - J. C. Yang
AU - W. Munoz
AU - E. F. Torio
AU - A. C. Glaser
AU - J. D. Bernstock
AU - K. L. Collins
AU - D. R. Cleary
AU - H. K. Tiwana
AU - A. J. Golby
AU - P. S. Jones
AU - B. D. Choi
AU - B. V. Nahed
AU - A. M. Raslan
AU - Z. M. Williams
AU - S. A. Dayeh
AU - P. Nanda
AU - R. M. Richardson
AU - W. L. Bi
AU - S. Tobochnik
AU - D. P. Cahill
AU - G. P. Dunn
AU - S. S. Cash
AU - A. C. Paulk
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.05.26364665
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.26364665v1
AB - Brain tumors interact bidirectionally with neural circuits, but direct electrophysiological evidence in the human brain across tumor types remains limited. We analyzed intraoperative clinical, mesoscale, and high-density surface electroencephalography recordings from 100 participants undergoing tumor resection, epilepsy surgery, or deep brain stimulation. Population-averaged measures poorly separated diagnoses, whereas spatially resolved aperiodic exponent and high-gamma activity varied with both tumor distance and nearby tumor volume fraction across scales. Gradients differed among IDH-mutant glioma, IDH-wildtype glioblastoma, and metastases. Connectivity further distinguished infiltrative gliomas: beta coherence across tumor-brain connections was reduced in IDH-mutant tumors (p=0.0006; Kruskal-Wallis; mean coherence: tumor-brain 0.26, tumor-tumor 0.44, brain-brain 0.34), unlike IDH-wildtype tumors or metastases. Physiological abnormalities extended into radiographically normal-appearing brain, indicating tumor-type-dependent physiological signatures that may dynamically map the tumor-brain interface complementing structural imaging, with future possibilities as a spatial biomarker of tumor infiltration and network organization in humans.
ER -