The electrical conductivity of human cerebrospinal fluid at body temperature

Abstract

The electrical conductivity of human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from seven patients was measured at both room temperature (25 degrees C) and body temperature (37 degrees C). Across the frequency range of 10 Hz-10 kHz, room temperature conductivity was 1.45 S/m, but body temperature conductivity was 1.79 S/m, approximately 23% higher. Modelers of electrical sources in the human brain have underestimated human CSF conductivity by as much as 44% for nearly two decades, and this should be corrected to increase the accuracy of source localization models.