A strong intracytoplasmic pS6 immunostaining was observed in cytomegalic cells (dysmorphic neurons and balloon cells) in all representative samples, confirming activation of the mTOR pathway (Fig. 2A), that was quantified further with western blot, because expression of pS6 was significantly higher (n = 5 western blot, P = 0.008) in MCDs cortex (N = 2: one FCDII and one TSC; 1.02 ± 0.02) than in pseudo-control cortex N = 3 (stroke/Rasmussen/peritumoral cortex; 0.52 ± 0.08). Here, MTOR is linked to stroke disorder.