Navigated Brain Stimulation (NBS) for Pre-Surgical Planning of Brain Lesion in Critical Areas: Basic Principles and Early Experience

Direct cortical stimulation (DCS) is an intraoperative technique that uses electrodes placed directly on the exposed cortical surface of the brain to stimulate activity of functional areas by simultaneously recording the evoked responses peripherally. DCS is very precise and re‐ liable and can be considered the gold standard in brain mapping and intraoperative func‐ tional monitoring. Nevertheless, the neurosurgeon discovers the spatial relationship between the disease and eloquent cortical surfaces only after having completed a cranioto‐ my and dural opening.