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As with every other epilepsy surgery center, evolutionary changes in our Wada test have occurred. This chapter describes our current protocol employed at the Medical College of Georgia. All patients who are candidates for any type of epilepsy surgery (e.g., temporal lobectomy, corpus callosotomy, focal cortical resection) undergo this procedure.

The use of EEG during intracarotid amobarbital testing varies from center to center (Rausch, 1987). When used, its primary purpose is to provide a continuous physiological measure of the effect of amobarbital on cortical function. In order to understand the use of EEG during this procedure, it is helpful to review some of the major studies of the neurological and EEG effects of intracarotid amobarbital. This chapter will provide a review of these studies and a brief summary of the present use of EEG during the Wada test.