Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41739931›Full record

ArticleScience advances2026

Causal parametric language mapping with electrical stimulation during awake neurosurgery.

J Raouf Belkhir, Frank E Garcea, Eduardo Navarrete, Benjamin L Chernoff, Max H Sims, Sam Haber, Arka N Mallela, Matthew Pease, Susan O Smith, Eric B Hintz and 8 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

J Raouf BelkhirDepartment of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0292-5536
Frank E GarceaDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8843-9127
Eduardo NavarreteDipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-7619-8397
Benjamin L ChernoffDepartment of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0685-1821
Max H SimsMindTrace Technologies Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7057-5358
Sam HaberDepartment of Neurosurgery, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY, USA.
Arka N MallelaDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0993-198X
Matthew PeaseDepartment of Neurosurgery, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Susan O SmithDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.ORCID 0009-0001-0585-2486
Eric B HintzDepartment of Neurosurgery, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, Lancaster, PA, USA.
Thandar AungDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6770-9642
Eliza M ReedyDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0009-0005-1858-9268
Kevin WalterDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8970-3612
Tyler SchmidtDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
Jorge Gonzalez-MartinezDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9936-7034
Nduka AmankulorDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6217-1954
Webster H PilcherDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
Bradford Z MahonDepartment of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2018-4797

Funding

Medical Scientist Training ProgramT32GM144300 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI RICHARD A STEINMAN, Russell S Schwartz · 2022 to 2026
$7.9M
Temporal dynamics and network mechanisms of articulatory feature encoding during speech production.F30DC023481 · NIDCD · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · PI Jawaad Raouf Belkhir · 2025 to 2026
$110k
NIDCD NIH HHS F30 DC023481NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM144300
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Functional mapping with direct electrical stimulation (DES) is widely used during awake neurosurgery to generate causal evidence about person-specific neuroanatomical organization. According to a long-standing clinical and scientific paradigm, if the application of DES to a given brain region does not result in performance errors, that site is considered to be uninvolved in the task. Here, we show that both error rates and performance speed on correct trials are parametrically modulated by when DES starts and stops relative to the timeline of task-driven processing in stimulated brain areas and networks. We propose a framework, causal parametric mapping, which moves beyond the classic approach of binarizing the effects of DES on behavior into "positive" and "negative" mapping trials. Causal parametric mapping offers a method to functionally dissect separable processing stages in the human brain, in real time, with reversible causal evidence during invasive neurosurgical procedures.

Indexed as

BrainBrain MappingElectric StimulationLanguageNeurosurgical ProceduresWakefulnessHumans

Identifiers

PMID41739931
PMCPMC12935032

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.