Post-radiation effect on the interhemispheric asymmetry in EEG and thermography characteristics

Complex analysis of EEG and thermographic parameters carried out in 10 healthy subjects and 34 patients, Chernobyl clean-up participants revealed a correlation between EEG and brain temperature changes in the baseline state and during mental arithmetic. During cognitive activity the maximal increase in the average EEG coherence and temperature shifts in healthy subjects were observed in the left frontotemporal and right parietotemporal areas. In patients changes in both parameters under study were most pronounced, the interhemispheric relations were impaired. The visual analysis revealed "flat" and "hypersynchronous" EEG types in patients. The dominant pathologic activity in the betal range indicative of mediobasal and oral brainstem lesions was characteristic of the flat EEG. This type of activity was observed in 60% of patients. In these cases, a general decrease in EEG coherence and temperature was most pronounced in the left hemisphere. The hypersynchronou EEG type (40% patients) was characterized by paroxysmal activity in the theta and alpha ranges suggesting diencephalic brain lesions. In these cases, EEG coherence and temperature were more variable; changes in the right hemisphere were significant, be it increase or decrease. Our complex approach to investigation of brain activity in different aspects seems to be promising in estimation of the brain functional state both in healthy persons and patients in remote terms after exposure to radiation. The specific hemispheric temperature changes revealed in Chernobyl patients especially during cognitive activity can be the sequels of postradiation disorders of vascular neuro-circulation. The EEG findings suggest subcortical disorders at different levels (diencephalic or brainstem) and functional failure of the right or left hemispheres in remote terms after exposure to radiation.     

Intracerebral EEG functioning as a reflexion of the systemic brain organization in norm and pathology

The authors summarized the EEG findings and defined the nature of intercentral EEG relationships in different functional states of healthy subjects and patients with organic cerebral pathology based on coherence analysis. The EEG features typical of healthy subjects were identified: an anterior-posterior gradient of the mean coherence and the character of cortical-subcortical relationships in the anterior cerebral structures. Right- and lefthanded subjects showed the frequency and regional differences in EEG coherence, which reflected, mainly, specific intracortical relationships. Development and regression of pathologic signs in right- and lefthanded patients with organic brain lesions are thought to be determined by these differences. As distinct from cortical pathology, lesions of regulatory structures (diencephalic, brainstem, and limbic) were shown to produce more diffuse changes in intercentral relationships with a tendency to reciprocity. Intercentral relations, including their interhemispheric differences, varied with changes in the functional state of healthy subjects (increase and decrease in the level of functioning). A certain time course of changes in intercentral relationships was also revealed in patients with organic brain lesions during recovery of their consciousness and mental activity. Changes in the dominance of activity of individual regulatory structures are considered to be one of the most important factors that determine the dynamic character of EEG coherence.     

Peculiarities of disorders of brain bioelectrical activity spatial-time organization in patients with different consciousness depression after severe head injury

Specific changes of bioelectrical brain activity was found in 27 patients with different level of posttraumatic consciousness depression by the methods of crosscorrelation, coherence and factor analysis of EEG. The changes of activity of morphofunctional systems of intracerebral integrations were revealed partially by decreasing of unspecific activity from brainstem structures reflected with increasing of slow wave activity and decreasing of EEG coherence in alpha- and beta-range. Depression of system organization of interconnections of bioelectrical brain activity in frontal and occipital regions of both hemispheres was also detected, and testified about decreasing of intercortical and thalamocortical brain system action under brain dislocation. The changes of integrative brain system activity, provides interhemispheric interaction, had the specific characted. Our results propose a "facilitation" of activity of system, providing "direct" interhemispheric connections through corpus callosum and other commissural tracts of telencephalon as a sequel of mesodiencephalon structures depression with steady reciprocal, antiphase relations of slow weve activity in symmetrical areas of hemispheres in coma II patients. The data of our research had shown no complete disintegration of system brain activity in coma II patients in spite of consciousness and brainstem reflexes depression.     

The role of cerebral regulatory structures in the formation of human EEG

This article generalizes the results of many years’ studies of the EEG of patients with tumorous lesions in the diencephalic, brainstem, and limbic structures, which fulfill the regulatory function in ensuring integral brain activity. The specific features of the inclusion of individual structures under investigation in the organization of the intra- and interhemispheric relations of cortical biopotentials were demonstrated against the background of diffuse changes in the biopotentials that reflect the systemic character of neurodynamic reorganizations when the regulatory brain structures are involved in the pathological process. This study expands the idea of the predominant functional connection of the diencephalic structures with the right hemisphere and brainstem structures with the left one with determination of the regional specific features of changes in the intrahemispheric EEG coherences. The distinguishing features of intercentral relations when the limbic structures are involved in the pathological process show similarity with the neurodynamic reorganizations in patients with lesions in both diencephalic and (even more so) brainstem structures. Universal elements were detected in the formation of integral adaptive reactions of the brain with lesions in its regulatory structures, which reflects their close functional interaction and makes it possible to consider them the individual links of an integral regulatory system. The study revealed reciprocal changes in various forms of electrical activity, which reflects reciprocation of interaction of individual regulatory structures. This is one of the EEG equivalents of the formation of adaptive-compensatory cerebral reactions. The specificity of influence of the studied regulatory structures are clearly seen in situations of their morphofunctional isolation observed during cerebral coma. In these conditions, when the cortex is functionally inactive, the authors demonstrated the dynamic character of changes in interhemispheric asymmetry, which reflects the dominance of individual links of the regulatory system playing the role of supreme regulator of life support of the body in critical states.     

The asymmetry of cerebral hemispheric activity in dogs in a state of quiet wakefulness under the action of sensory stimuli and food deprivation]

The EEG was recorded in four dogs from symmetrical cortical areas of the left and right brain hemispheres. Activation foci were determined by the maximal values of the mean frequency of EEG oscillations and coherence function. In the background experiments, the hemispheric activation asymmetry was observed in all dogs. The individual differences were in the frequency ranges, which were asymmetrically localized. In three dogs the coherence level was significantly more frequently higher in the right hemisphere than in the left one, in one dog the opposite relations were observed. These differences in activation foci localization were correlated with different tactics of choice between two feeders under conditions of free behavior. Under the action of external stimuli, changes in hemispheric activation were observed, predominantly, in the corresponding projection areas, and at the shifts of food excitability they were localized in symmetrical frontal areas. The results suggest that the left hemisphere becomes more activated during the first presentations of indifferent stimuli, i.e., during the development of the reaction to novelty, and under conditions of food deprivation, which rises the level of brain activation.     

Impairment of space-frequency parameters of EEG coherence during cognitive performance (consequences of Chernobyl accident)

Changes in frequency and space parameters of the EEG coherence evoked by cognitive performance were analyzed in 13 healthy subjects and participants of the Chemobyl clean-up. In healthy subjects, the EEG coherences in the alpha and beta frequency bands were significantly increased during arithmetic count and during visuospatial performance. Each test was characterized by regionally-specific features. Chemobyl patients demonstrated a global decrease in the EEG coherence predominantly in the alpha and beta frequency bands, especially in the frontal cortical areas. Patients with various pathological EEG patterns demonstrated specific impairment of EEG parameters. In patients with a "flat" EEG pattern, the EEG coherence predominantly decreased in the frontal associative areas, especially during arithmetic calculation. In patients with a "hypersynchronous" EEG pattern, the decrease in the EEG coherence was most pronounced in the parietal associative areas, especially during the visuospatial performance. The revealed impairments of the EEG coherence reactivity may be a reflection of disorders of the intracortical and corticosubcortical interaction and can result from the remote postradiation brain atrophy, especially, of cortical structures.     

Comparative analysis of EEG spatial organization in the rats with different level of genetically determinated anxiety under ethanol

The pecularities of EEG changes in the rats with geneticaly different level of anxiety was studed after ethanol injection. The biopotentials spatial synchronization and entropy in the "high anxious" rats (strain MR) did not increase under low dose; on the contrary the above changes were characteristic for the rats without anxiety signs (strain MNRA). After injection of middle and high ethanol doses the "high anxious" rats as compared with "low anxious" ones had the "simplification" of reaction type--the increase of narrow frequency coherence (i.e. linear biopotentials relationship) and spectral power of theta-activity (5.75-7.25 Hz), which was combined with the decrease of nonlinear biopotential characteristics. This fact is interpreted as the predominance of subcortical mechanisms of the brain functional state regulation over cortical ones. The significant decrease of high frequency EEG components in "high anxious" rats takes place under more high ethanol doses, presumably reflecting the increase of the anxiolytic level of ethanol effect.     

Changes in the spatial organization of cortical electrical activity during increasing working memory load

Analysis of EEG coherence performed in 60 healthy adult subjects revealed some changes in the spatial organization of cortical electrical activity produced by complication of the context of cognitive performance (increasing the working memory load). Changes in the degree of coherence of cortical potentials within the local areas were observed already at the stage of the "operative readiness" immediately after the instruction, i.e., representation of the cognitive task sequence in the explicit working memory. The observed changes were different in the anterior (decrease in the degree of coherence) and posterior (increase in coherence) areas of the cortex. Context-related increase in the local coherence was more pronounced in the temporal, parietal, and occipital areas of the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere.     

Optimal structure of the connections of the electrical processes in the human cerebral cortex and its disorders in changes of state

In this paper the data are analyzed on the human EEG investigation. Significance is shown of parameters of correlative and spectral-coherent EEG functions for the estimation of the brain functional state of healthy people and patients with local cerebral lesions. In the norm, the parameter of the mean coherence is stable, its characteristics correspond to the optimum cortical tone, the most favourable for the performance of the cortical functions. In healthy people unstable, individual, different in different cortical areas changes of the spectrum details, coherence and phases reflect local processes, taking place at the optimum mean level of the coherence and form the cortical mosaic. These two sides of the intercentral relations of the electrical processes (optimum level of coherence and dynamic mosaic of connections of separate rhythms) reflect the most favourable conditions of the nervous processes development. In the brain pathology, different forms are noted of deviations from the system of intercentral relations and levels of coherence of cortical electrical processes.     

Electroencephalographic Correlates of Mental Performance of Emotional Autobiographic and Scenic Situations: II. Characteristics of Spatial Synchronization

The EEG spatial synchronization in the frequency bands , , ₁, ₂, ₁, and ₂ was studied on the basis of estimations of corresponding mean values of the coherence function in two groups of subjects (students actors and nonactors) during internal induction of emotional states by means of recall of autobiographic experience and mental performance of given scenic situations as a known character. Emotion-induced changes in the state of the cortex were reflected in statistically significant heterogeneous changes in the EEG spatial synchronization in many cortical areas and different frequency bands. The results obtained are discussed in combination with data presented earlier on changes in EEG local synchronization obtained in the course of the same experiments. The EEG bands stand out against the background of extensive changes in the local and spatial EEG synchronization: the EEG changes in these bands are most prominent. Also, the changes in the prefrontal and temporal cortical areas, most involved in actualization of emotional states, are noteworthy. Some of the findings can be interpreted as confirming the hypothesis about neurophysiological mechanisms of brain defense from functionally excessive emotions.     

Intercentral EEG relationships in regressive and chronic post-traumatic Korsakoff syndrome.]

Dynamic EEG study of patients with posttraumatic Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) with the application of complex analysis methods revealed a complicated pathological structure of the intercentral relations of cortical electrical activity. The interhemispheric EEG coherence between symmetrical frontal cortical areas are sharply reduced, while the intrahemispheric coherence are increased in comparison with the normal values. The proposed technique of segregation of statistically homogeneous spectro-coherent characteristics made it possible to reveal the earlier intercentral EEG relations formed by stable and variable coherence spectra. The structure formed by the stable and variable coherence spectra in KS differs from that reflected in the mean coherence levels. During the KS regression, the EEG coherence between the right and left frontal areas increased to the normal level, and the variable spectra are revealed. In the chronic KS syndrome, the pathological intercentral relations persist, while the variable relations in the frontal areas are absent. A reduction of pathologically decreased intrahemispheric coherence selectively revealed in the right hemisphere during the KS regression and formation of variable relations in this hemisphere point to a leading role of the right hemisphere in development of compensatory processes in KS. The reciprocal relations between the intra- and interhemispheric coherence and coherence dynamics in the theta rhythm suggest that pathological activity in the basal diencephalic structures plays an important role in formation of the pathological EEG pattern in KS.     

EEG spatial organization and activation of creative processes

Characteristic features of the spatino-temporal EEG organization of 24 right-handed children (aged from 8 to 13 years) were studied after stimulation of creative activity by the method of self-regulation of the brain functional state (Russian Inventor's Certificate no. 2157707, 01.06.1999). The multiparametric analysis of baseline recordings derived from 24 cortical points made it possible to find the most probable pattern of changes in the spatial synchronization of biopotentials, including increase in activity in the right anterior and left posterior cortical regions. These changes were accompanied by a rise in the information-energy parameter (the ratio between coherence and spectral power of potentials). This phenomenon may testify to a transition to the "economic" condition of information processing. Differences in EEG frequency characteristics corresponding to different levels of imagination and creative intuition were revealed.     

Changes in the power and coherence of the β<Subscript>2</Subscript> EEG band in subjects performing creative tasks using emotionally significant and emotionally neutral words

Changes in the power and coherence of the β₂ EEG band (18.5–30 Hz) were studied in subjects performing creative tasks under the conditions of emotional induction of different valence and without it. EEGs were recorded in subjects instructed to think up, within a limited time, the largest possible number of original definitions, differing in meaning, of emotionally positive, negative, and neutral nouns using additional words that were selected for them from another or the same semantic field. Significant changes in EEG power and coherence were found in the β₂ band. The performance of the creative task without emotional induction led to a local decrease in β₂ EEG power in the left frontotemporal area and a diffuse decrease in the coherence of the same band in most cortical zones. Emotional induction had a considerably stronger effect on the state of the cortex than the creative tasks used in the study: positive emotional induction caused a generalized increase in the power and coherence of the β₂ EEG band, while negative emotional induction caused a diffuse decrease in the power of this band over the parietal, central, and temporal cortical areas.     

Electroencephalographic correlates of individual features of the mental efficiency of adolescents

Evident correlations of spatial-temporal organization of the electrical brain activity with individual features of the mental working capacity were revealed in juveniles by the methods of analysis of spectra power density and of coherence function of rhythmic EEG components. EEG in juveniles with a low working mental capacity is characterized by hypersynchroneity, monofrequency, low reactivity of alpha-rhythm and high level of generalized spatial synchronization. Juveniles with high level of mental working capacity are characterized by regional specificity of the main EEG rhythm, the presence of the local dynamic foci of interconnected activity. It is suggested that the correlation of mechanisms of controlled local and non-specific generalized cortical activity is one of the main factors, determining the individual specificity of mental ability.     

Neuronal Networks during Burst Suppression as Revealed by Source Analysis

Introduction

Burst-suppression (BS) is an electroencephalography (EEG) pattern consisting of alternant periods of slow waves of high amplitude (burst) and periods of so called flat EEG (suppression). It is generally associated with coma of various etiologies (hypoxia, drug-related intoxication, hypothermia, and childhood encephalopathies, but also anesthesia). Animal studies suggest that both the cortex and the thalamus are involved in the generation of BS. However, very little is known about mechanisms of BS in humans. The aim of this study was to identify the neuronal network underlying both burst and suppression phases using source reconstruction and analysis of functional and effective connectivity in EEG.

Material/Methods

Dynamic imaging of coherent sources (DICS) was applied to EEG segments of 13 neonates and infants with burst and suppression EEG pattern. The brain area with the strongest power in the analyzed frequency (1–4 Hz) range was defined as the reference region. DICS was used to compute the coherence between this reference region and the entire brain. The renormalized partial directed coherence (RPDC) was used to describe the informational flow between the identified sources.

Results/Conclusion

Delta activity during the burst phases was associated with coherent sources in the thalamus and brainstem as well as bilateral sources in cortical regions mainly frontal and parietal, whereas suppression phases were associated with coherent sources only in cortical regions. Results of the RPDC analyses showed an upwards informational flow from the brainstem towards the thalamus and from the thalamus to cortical regions, which was absent during the suppression phases. These findings may support the theory that a “cortical deafferentiation” between the cortex and sub-cortical structures exists especially in suppression phases compared to burst phases in burst suppression EEGs. Such a deafferentiation may play a role in the poor neurological outcome of children with these encephalopathies.     

Dependence of the organization of human brain electrical activity on hemispheric dominance

In healthy subjects, in a state of relative rest, with different individual profiles of asymmetry (20 right-handed and 10 left-handed subjects), a greater conjunction of electrical brain processes (estimated by mean EEG coherence levels) has been found in the dominant hemisphere as compared to the subdominant one, more distinctly expressed in the right-handed subjects. The maximum degree of interhemispheric asymmetry of the EEG coherence is observed in the posterior associative cortical areas. Specific interhemispheric theta-range differences are revealed as compared with other EEG frequency bands. Greater values are obtained of the correlation of the EEG symmetrical hemispheres points in the whole frequency band and in alpha- and beta-ranges in the right-handed subjects than in the left-handed ones.     

Rat brain reactions to acute brain stem lesion on dynamics of parameters of cerebral electric activity

Despite an old history of a question, adaptive brain reactions that develop after an acute brainstem lesion have not been adequately investigated. With the aim to study the central mechanisms of compensation/decompensation and to specify the character of involvement of orbitofrontal cortex and hippocampus into these processes the spatiotemporal organization of brain electric activity was analyzed in 8 rats before and after electrolytic brainstem lesion at the level of the lateral vestibular nucleus Deiters (VND). The electric activity was recorded from symmetric frontal and somatosensory cortical areas, hippocampal areas CA1, and intact VND. Spectralcoherent analysis showed that adaptive reactions are most clearly manifested by changes in the spatiotemporal organization of the theata activity: 1) early brainstemhippocampal synchronization of the electric activity in the frequency range of 6-7 Hz with subsequent involvement of anterior cortical regions is characteristic of survived animals; 2) independent hippocampal-cortical hemispheric system of excitation in the frequency of 4-5 Hz precedes the fatal outcome. On the day before the fatal outcome the interhemispheric coherence in the orbitofrontal cortex dropped, which suggests the involvement of these brain regions into the processes of visceral regulation.     

Disorders of the spatiotemporal organization of the brain’s bioelectrical activity in patients with different depressions of consciousness after severe head injury

Specific changes in the bioelectrical activity of the brain have been found in 27 patients with different levels of posttraumatic consciousness depression (stupor, spoor-coma I, coma II) by the methods of cross correlation, and coherence and factor EEG analysis. The changes in activity of the morphofunctional systems of intracerebral integrations were expressed partly in a decrease in the nonspecific activating effects from brainstem structures, which was reflected in an increase in the slow wave activity along with a considerable decrease in the level of EEG coherence in the α and β ranges. The observed depression of the system’s organization of the interrelations of the bioelectrical brain activity in the frontal and occipital regions of both hemispheres could be due to a decreased activity of the associative systems of intercortical and thalamocortical integration. The results suggest a certain facilitation of the activity of the system providing direct interhemispheric connections through the corpus calossum and other commissural tracts of the telencephalon as a consequence of the depression of the mesodiencephalon structures (which normally largely contribute to the synergistic interhemispheric interaction via synchronous ascending effects on the cortex of both hemispheres). This results in steady, reciprocal, and almost antiphase relations of slow wave activity in symmetrical areas of the hemispheres.     

Spectral and coherence EEG analysis of rats differing in the level of seizure readiness

The resting EEGs of several brain structures (motor and visual cortex, caudate nucleus and intralaminar thalamic nuclei) were submitted to spectral and coherence computer analyses in two rat strains. Genetically predisposed to convulsive state KM rats were shown to differ from nonpredisposed Wistar rats in EEG spectral properties. KM rats EEG pattern was characterized by increase of low frequencies (1-2 Hz) power and decrease of faster activity (5-12 Hz) power in cortical spectrograms as well as by decrease of caudate nucleus EEG absolute power. The coherence value between cortical or subcortical structures at below 4 Hz was intensified in KM rats. Reinforcement of cortical auto-oscillating properties manifested by ECoG synchronization in cortical-thalamic resonance interaction as well as weakening of striatal inhibitory system may constitute neurophysiological mechanisms of enhanced convulsive readiness. The probable role of mediator imbalance in these mechanisms is discussed.     

Interhemispheric EEG Coherence during Rehabilitation of Patients after Severe Craniocerebral Injury

Dynamic clinical and EEG examinations (78 observations) were carried out in 17 patients suffering from severe craniocerebral injury during the course of their rehabilitation. Successful recovery of functions to the point of social and family readaptation was reached in 61% of patients (group I), and in 39% of patients the results were poor (group II). The complex of EEG coherence parameters (six rhythmic bands, mean coherence levels for 26 intrahemispheric and 8 interhemispheric derivation pairs, and the asymmetry coefficient of the EEG coherence) was analyzed in patients in comparison with normal values (20 right-handers). The rehabilitation was most efficient in cases when a certain dynamic sequence of patterns of interhemispheric relations of the EEG coherence was observed. First, a stable formation of right-hemispheric dominance was observed (most expressed in the centrofrontal areas in the range). This asymmetry pattern was phenomenologically associated with the recovery of the emotional sphere and positive dynamics in the motor and autonomic spheres. Later on, formation of the left-hemispheric dominance of the EEG coherence was observed (in the frontotemporal areas in the – ranges. This pattern was associated with complication of the cognitive functions. In the most severe forms of brain damage, the rehabilitation process was accompanied by changes in the interhemispheric EEG coherence with the elements of stealing from one of the hemispheres, which was correlated with clinical dynamics. Different types of the dynamics of reactive changes in the EEG coherence were revealed in patients of the two groups: successive formation of a generalized and then local modally specific reaction to afferent stimuli was observed in group I, while the generalized type of reactivity persisted in group II until the end of rehabilitation. It is suggested that the different sequence of formation of the interhemispheric EEG coherence reflects the involvement of different brain regulation systems in different orders into the integrative activity, i.e., some specific features of the rehabilitation process.