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Derek Southwell

Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
DUMC 3807, Durham, NC 27710
DUMC 3807, 1542 Blue Zone Duke South, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications


Interneuron Transplantation for Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.

Journal Article Neurosurg Clin N Am · January 2024 Current epilepsy surgical techniques, such as brain resection, laser ablation, and neurostimulation, target seizure networks macroscopically, and they may yield an unfavorable balance between seizure reduction, procedural invasiveness, and neurologic morbi ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Temporal Lobe Club: Newer Approaches to Treat Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Journal Article Epilepsy Curr · 2024 This brief review summarizes presentations at the Temporal Lobe Club Special Interest Group session held in December 2022 at the American Epilepsy Society meeting. The session addressed newer methods to treat temporal epilepsy, including methods currently ... Full text Link to item Cite

High-resolution neural recordings improve the accuracy of speech decoding.

Journal Article Nat Commun · November 6, 2023 Patients suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative diseases often lose the ability to communicate, detrimentally affecting their quality of life. One solution to restore communication is to decode signals directly from the brain to enable neural speech ... Full text Link to item Cite

Flexible, high-resolution cortical arrays with large coverage capture microscale high-frequency oscillations in patients with epilepsy.

Journal Article Epilepsia · July 2023 OBJECTIVE: Effective surgical treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy depends on accurate localization of the epileptogenic zone (EZ). High-frequency oscillations (HFOs) are potential biomarkers of the EZ. Previous research has shown that HFOs often occur wit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Programmable RNA sensing for cell monitoring and manipulation.

Journal Article Nature · October 2022 RNA is a central and universal mediator of genetic information underlying the diversity of cell types and cell states, which together shape tissue organization and organismal function across species and lifespans. Despite numerous advances in RNA sequencin ... Full text Cite

Laser ablative treatment of musicogenic epilepsy arising from dominant mesial temporal lobe: illustrative case.

Journal Article J Neurosurg Case Lessons · June 6, 2022 BACKGROUND: Musicogenic epilepsy (ME) is a rare reflex epilepsy in which seizures are triggered by musical stimuli. Prior descriptions of ME have suggested localization to the nondominant temporal lobe, primarily in neocortex. Although resection has been d ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intraoperative microseizure detection using a high-density micro-electrocorticography electrode array.

Journal Article Brain Commun · 2022 One-third of epilepsy patients suffer from medication-resistant seizures. While surgery to remove epileptogenic tissue helps some patients, 30-70% of patients continue to experience seizures following resection. Surgical outcomes may be improved with more ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Flexible, high-resolution thin-film electrodes for human and animal neural research.

Journal Article J Neural Eng · June 17, 2021 Objective.Brain functions such as perception, motor control, learning, and memory arise from the coordinated activity of neuronal assemblies distributed across multiple brain regions. While major progress has been made in understanding the function of indi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Domain Mapping and Deep Learning from Multiple MRI Clinical Datasets for Prediction of Molecular Subtypes in Low Grade Gliomas.

Journal Article Brain Sci · July 18, 2020 Brain tumors, such as low grade gliomas (LGG), are molecularly classified which require the surgical collection of tissue samples. The pre-surgical or non-operative identification of LGG molecular type could improve patient counseling and treatment decisio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Acromegaly due to McCune-Albright syndrome

Journal Article US Endocrinology · June 1, 2020 McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) is characterized by polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, cafe-au-lait hyperpigmentation of the skin, and acromegaly. Ablative therapy in affected patients must target the entire pituitary gland, making medical management the prefer ... Full text Cite

Interneuron transplantation: a prospective surgical therapy for medically refractory epilepsy.

Journal Article Neurosurg Focus · April 1, 2020 Excitatory-inhibitory imbalance is central to epilepsy pathophysiology. Current surgical therapies for epilepsy, such as brain resection, laser ablation, and neurostimulation, target epileptic networks on macroscopic scales, without directly correcting the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Interneuron Transplantation Rescues Social Behavior Deficits without Restoring Wild-Type Physiology in a Mouse Model of Autism with Excessive Synaptic Inhibition.

Journal Article J Neurosci · March 11, 2020 Manipulations that enhance GABAergic inhibition have been associated with improved behavioral phenotypes in autism models, suggesting that autism may be treated by correcting underlying deficits of inhibition. Interneuron transplantation is a method for in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Inhibition of Manual Movements at Speech Arrest Sites in the Posterior Inferior Frontal Lobe.

Journal Article Neurosurgery · September 1, 2019 BACKGROUND: Intraoperative stimulation of the posterior inferior frontal lobe (IFL) induces speech arrest, which is often interpreted as demonstration of essential language function. However, prior reports have described "negative motor areas" in the IFL, ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Method for Cranial Nerve XI Silencing During Surgery of the Foramen Magnum Region: Technical Case Report.

Journal Article Oper Neurosurg (Hagerstown) · April 1, 2019 BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Skull base surgery involves the microdissection and intraoperative monitoring of cranial nerves, including cranial nerve XI (CN XI). Manipulation of CN XI can evoke brisk trapezius contraction, which in turn may disturb the surgi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Osteotomy for cervical kyphosis

Chapter · December 22, 2018 Full text Cite

Resection of gliomas deemed inoperable by neurosurgeons based on preoperative imaging studies.

Journal Article J Neurosurg · September 2018 OBJECTIVE Maximal safe resection is a primary objective in the management of gliomas. Despite this objective, surgeons and referring physicians may, on the basis of radiological studies alone, assume a glioma to be unresectable. Because imaging studies, in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Laser ablative therapy of sessile hypothalamic hamartomas in children using interventional MRI: report of 5 cases.

Journal Article J Neurosurg Pediatr · May 2018 Hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are benign lesions that cause medically refractory seizures, behavioral disturbances, and endocrine dysfunction. Open resection of HHs does not guarantee seizure freedom and carries a relatively high risk of morbidity. Minimal ... Full text Link to item Cite

Atypical pituitary adenoma: a clinicopathologic case series.

Journal Article J Neurosurg · April 2018 OBJECTIVE In 2004, the WHO classified atypical pituitary adenoma as a distinct adenoma subtype. However, the clinical significance of this distinction remains undetermined. The authors sought to define patient characteristics, tumor features, and treatment ... Full text Link to item Cite

Before and after the veterans affairs cooperative program 468 study: Deep brain stimulator target selection for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Journal Article Parkinsonism Relat Disord · March 2018 INTRODUCTION: The Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Program 468 study (CSP 468) produced significant findings regarding deep brain stimulation (DBS) target selection for Parkinson's Disease (PD) treatment, yet its impact on clinical practices has not been ... Full text Link to item Cite

Language outcomes after resection of dominant inferior parietal lobule gliomas.

Journal Article J Neurosurg · October 2017 OBJECTIVE The dominant inferior parietal lobule (IPL) contains cortical and subcortical regions essential for language. Although resection of IPL tumors could result in language deficits, little is known about the likelihood of postoperative language morbi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intrathecal catheter-associated inflammatory mass in a neurofibromatosis type-1 patient receiving fentanyl and bupivacaine.

Journal Article Surg Neurol Int · 2017 BACKGROUND: Catheter-associated inflammatory masses (CIMs) are a rare but serious complication of intrathecal drug delivery devices. CIM formation is influenced by local medication concentration, which is determined in part by flow dynamics at the catheter ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intraoperative mapping during repeat awake craniotomy reveals the functional plasticity of adult cortex.

Journal Article J Neurosurg · May 2016 OBJECT To avoid iatrogenic injury during the removal of intrinsic cerebral neoplasms such as gliomas, direct electrical stimulation (DES) is used to identify cortical and subcortical white matter pathways critical for language, motor, and sensory function. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparison of Deep Brain Stimulation Lead Targeting Accuracy and Procedure Duration between 1.5- and 3-Tesla Interventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systems: An Initial 12-Month Experience.

Journal Article Stereotact Funct Neurosurg · 2016 BACKGROUND: Interventional magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) allows deep brain stimulator lead placement under general anesthesia. While the accuracy of lead targeting has been described for iMRI systems utilizing 1.5-tesla magnets, a similar assessment of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Interneurons from embryonic development to cell-based therapy.

Journal Article Science · April 11, 2014 Many neurologic and psychiatric disorders are marked by imbalances between neural excitation and inhibition. In the cerebral cortex, inhibition is mediated largely by GABAergic (γ-aminobutyric acid-secreting) interneurons, a cell type that originates in th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Functional maturation of hPSC-derived forebrain interneurons requires an extended timeline and mimics human neural development.

Journal Article Cell Stem Cell · May 2, 2013 Directed differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has seen significant progress in recent years. However, most differentiated populations exhibit immature properties of an early embryonic stage, raising concerns about their ability to mode ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intrinsically determined cell death of developing cortical interneurons.

Journal Article Nature · November 1, 2012 Cortical inhibitory circuits are formed by γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-secreting interneurons, a cell population that originates far from the cerebral cortex in the embryonic ventral forebrain. Given their distant developmental origins, it is intriguing how ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-term seizure control outcomes after resection of gangliogliomas.

Journal Article Neurosurgery · June 2012 BACKGROUND: Gangliogliomas are rare glioneuronal tumors that typically cause refractory seizures during the first 3 decades of life. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prognosticators of seizure outcome after surgery for ganglioglioma. METHODS: We reviewed the ca ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cortical plasticity induced by inhibitory neuron transplantation.

Journal Article Science · February 26, 2010 Critical periods are times of pronounced brain plasticity. During a critical period in the postnatal development of the visual cortex, the occlusion of one eye triggers a rapid reorganization of neuronal responses, a process known as ocular dominance plast ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reduction of seizures by transplantation of cortical GABAergic interneuron precursors into Kv1.1 mutant mice.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · September 8, 2009 Epilepsy, a disease characterized by abnormal brain activity, is a disabling and potentially life-threatening condition for nearly 1% of the world population. Unfortunately, modulation of brain excitability using available antiepileptic drugs can have seri ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cortical inhibition modified by embryonic neural precursors grafted into the postnatal brain.

Journal Article J Neurosci · July 12, 2006 Embryonic medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) cells transplanted into the adult brain can disperse, migrate, and differentiate to neurons expressing GABA, the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. It has been hypothesized that grafted MGE precursors could have ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improving the detection of acetabular osteolysis using oblique radiographs.

Journal Article J Bone Joint Surg Br · March 1999 Visualisation of periacetabular osteolysis by standard anteroposterior (AP) radiographs underestimates the extent of bone loss around a metal-backed acetabular component. We have assessed the effectiveness of standard radiological views in depicting periac ... Full text Link to item Cite