Intraoperative Mapping of the Tumor-Brain Interface - Angelique Paulk, PhD & Wenya Linda Bi, MD, PhD

In this episode, we explore intraoperative mapping techniques, from ultrasound and fluorescence agents to intraoperative MRI — explaining how each layer of information helps neurosurgeons, like Dr. Wenya Linda Bi, safely remove as much tumor as possible while preserving critical brain function. We then turn to the field of cancer neuroscience, exploring how gliomas co-opt neural circuitry — inducing excitatory synaptogenesis onto tumor cells via neurogliomal synapses, driving a feedforward cycle of hyperexcitability and tumor proliferation. We discuss the study led by Dr. Angelique Paulk, exploring neural activity signatures of tumor infiltration in the human brain using high-resolution microelectrodes and Neuropixels probes to capture fine-scale electrical patterns across the tumor-brain boundary, and how a metric called the aperiodic exponent — reflecting the brain's excitatory-inhibitory balance — may offer a new, high-resolution tool for delineating healthy from pathological tissue in real time during surgery.

Dr. Wenya Linda Bi is the Myers Family Endowed Chair in Skull Base Tumors and Cancer at Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. She serves as the Chief of the Tumor Division for Mass General Brigham Neurosurgery, Neurosurgical Oncology Program Director, and Director of the Skull Base and Microneurosurgery Fellowship. Her clinical expertise in skull base and deep-seated brain tumor surgery has been honored as a national Top Doctor for multiple consecutive years. In addition, her research team focuses on the translational biology of skull base tumors and refining intraoperative neuromonitoring techniques. A central driver across her efforts is to translate knowledge from advanced technologies to be transparent, scalable, and broadly accessible.

Dr. Angelique Paulk, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, where she uses high-resolution recording technologies to investigate how neural circuits generate cognition and behavior, how direct electrical stimulation alters neural dynamics, and, most recently, how electrical signatures in the brain can help distinguish healthy tissue from tumor tissue during surgery. She completed her PhD at the University of Arizona, followed by a fellowship at the Queensland Brain Institute in Australia.