In 260 SEEG patients, 4–13 Hz peak frequency did not predict session-0 free-recall rate

Scalp EEG studies report that a higher individual alpha peak frequency is associated with better memory. This analysis tested the prediction between patients using archived SEEG spectral traits for 261 epilepsy patients and session-0 free-recall rates derived from FR1 and catFR1 events files. A WORD was counted as recalled when its item appeared as REC_WORD in the same list. Partial Spearman correlations adjusted for age, site, sampling rate, sex, log accepted-pair count, and dataset; tests used 10,000 permutations and 5,000 bootstraps. The primary 4–13 Hz peak-frequency association was near zero (n=260, rho=-0.012, 95% CI -0.140 to 0.113, p=0.85); its 90% CI (-0.120 to 0.093) was within the prespecified ±0.20 equivalence bound. Peak height, aperiodic exponent, and relative 8–12.5 Hz power also had near-zero estimates. The 7–13 Hz peak-frequency estimate was -0.094 (n=258, Holm-adjusted p=0.78); its 90% CI extended just beyond the negative equivalence bound. Results were similar after median MNI coordinate adjustment and in FR1 alone. As a positive control, age was associated with lower recall (rho=-0.232, p=0.0003). The sample comprised epilepsy patients aged about 18–64 years; spectra came from 60 seconds at task start rather than eyes-closed rest, and medication, lesions, seizure-onset zone, and differing implant locations were not fully controlled. Spectral traits and their methods were inherited from an archived contribution and were not rechecked here.

SEEG · free recall · individual alpha frequency · spectral peak · memory · epilepsy · RAM · equivalence testing