Seeking guidance on EEG analysis for SCN2A mutation clinical case (Beginner with programming)

Support & Discussions
1

Hello everyone,

I am reaching out to this community to seek guidance on how to process and analyze my son’s EEG data. He has a confirmed SCN2A mutation and suffers from refractory seizures.

While we are under medical supervision, the clinical EEG reports we receive are quite superficial and do not provide the level of detailed insights we need to fully understand his condition’s dynamics. Therefore, I want to take a proactive role and learn how to analyze his raw EEG data myself.

My Background & Current Situation:

  • Programming Experience: I have no prior background in Python or software development, but I am highly motivated to learn the necessary steps to run analysis pipelines.

  • Data Available: I have access to my son’s raw EEG files (can export to standard formats if needed).

  • Goal: I want to understand how to visualize these EEGs properly, detect anomalies, and potentially extract quantitative features (like spectral analysis or spike detection) that are relevant to SCN2A-related epilepsy.

What I need help with:

  1. What is the most straightforward workflow or GUI-based tool (if any) within the MNE ecosystem for a beginner to visualize raw EEG files?

  2. Are there existing, well-documented scripts or pipelines specifically tailored for pediatric epilepsy or spike detection that I could adapt?

  3. What is the best way to share sample data here if someone needs to see the file structure to help me load it?

I am ready to put in the work to learn, but I need a roadmap from the experts here to avoid getting lost in the technical complexities.

Thank you in advance for your time, support, and guidance.

2

Dear @ecos988-code,

I’m very sorry to hear about your son’s condition. However, we are academic neuroscientists, not qualified medical doctors, let alone neurologists. While we could show you the technical steps of how to perform some given analysis, we are wholly ignorant of the crucial medical context in which to interpret the result. Since your goal is to obtain medical insights from your son’s EEG data, we are likely to do more harm than good. I understand your desire to learn more about EEG and how to analyze and interpret it. I would have the same desire if I were in your shoes. But for this you need to reach out to your son’s doctors, not us.