Effects of Social Feedback on Intracranial EEG

This study aims to assess the impact of social influence on direct neural recordings in human patients undergoing surgical treatment of epilepsy. 24 patients recruited from the Epilepsy Center at Dartmouth Health Medical Center (DHMC) will undergo electrode implantation throughout the brain to localize epileptogenic zones. Patients will be asked to rate their provider's warmth, competence, and other, similar traits associated with care-competency. They will then complete the picture-induced fear and math portions of the multimodal negative affect task (MNAT) during which iEEG is recorded.

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must be between 18-65 years of age. * Patients must have a diagnosis of refractory epilepsy undergoing intracranial EEG recording for clinical purposes. * Patients with a legal guardian will be considered for participation if they are interested and, in the judgment of the research team, they are capable of performing the cognitive tasks required of the study. In those instances, the patient and their legal guardian will both participate in the informed consent process, with the legal guardian signing the consent form. Exclusion Criteria: * Patient has additional neurological condition (such as stroke or dementia) or a psychiatric condition (such as active psychosis or suicidal ideation) and are deemed inappropriate for the study. * Patients are not able to provide informed consent for any reason (e.g. encephalopathic, experiencing a seizure).