A neural mass modelling framework for evaluating EEG source localisation of seizure activity

Abstract

Objective. This study addresses the challenge of objectively evaluating electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography (EEG) source localisation algorithms in the absence of an experimentally verifiable ground truth, specifically for the characterisation of ictal dynamics. Approach. A simulation framework is presented for generating biologically plausible ictal dynamics and their corresponding EEG signals to enable systematic benchmarking of source imaging approaches. Cortical seizure initiation and propagation were simulated using network-coupled neural mass (Epileptor) models and combined with realistic forward models of the human head to produce macroscopic, electrophysiological data w..