用近似熵测量神经放电峰峰间期的复杂性

近似熵是用来测量信号复杂程度的非线性方法。为了研究神经放电序列的复杂性,用该方法及其改进方法对大鼠损伤坐崩神经模型、大鼠脑薄片视上核神经元自发放电模型、背根节自发放电模型峰峰间期以及Rose-Hindmarsh理论神经元模型分叉数据进行了动态测量。结果表明,近似熵可以定量反映多种神经放电序列复杂性的变化,是一种较为有效的复杂性序量方法。     

双任务事件中脑电信号的熵计算

采用复杂性分析中的样品熵算法,计算并分析了受试者在单任务事件以及双任务事件活动过程中的神经电生理数据.在利用样品熵算法对短时程（秒）脑电数据的复杂度和规则度进行计算之前,首先应用了代替数据分析法,以排除所分析的实验数据是由线性加随机部分构成.所有的实验数据分别在单任务和双任务等不同的生理条件下采集.其中单任务为一个听觉辨别任务;双任务有两种形式,分别为听觉任务和不同的震动任务的结合.计算结果显示,任何一种双任务过程中脑电信号的熵值都明显的低于单任务状态时脑电信号的熵值（P＜0.05～0.001）.研究表明对应于受试者仅仅进行单任务工作而言,当受试者处于双任务工作状态时大脑的神经信息传递可能会受到某种程度的削弱,神经信息流通的范围也可能更为孤立.结果进一步说明对于短时程（秒）脑电信号分析,样品熵算法是有效的非线性分析方法.     

局灶性脑缺血损伤无创检测中EEG近似熵研究

局灶性脑缺血的早期无创诊断在临床实际中有着非常重要的意义。采用SD（Sparague-Dawley)大鼠建立了局灶性脑缺血的动物实验模型,记录了缺血前后缺血区域和正常区域的脑电信号EEG。由于近似熵复杂度算法所需时间序列长度较短,大大减少了脑电信号非平稳所带来的困难,且无需粗粒化,采用近似熵对局灶性缺血动物实验模型的脑电信号的复杂度进行了分析。结果发现缺血前后缺血与非缺血区域的近似熵均有着易于区分的特征,因此EEG信号的近似熵分析可以用于对局灶性缺血的脑损伤程度进行诊断,并区分损伤区域和非损伤区域,有望在临床中加以应用。     

复杂度脑电地形图研究

脑电地形图是近年脑电分析的热点之一。通过对各种复杂度算法的分析得出,近似熵由于所需要的时间序列长度较短,大大减少了脑电非平稳性所带来的困难,且无需粗粒化,在对生物医学信号的复杂度分析中有其一定的优点,采用近似熵对多道脑电信号的复杂度运算结果,通过空间插值,构建复杂性动态脑地形图,以便于观察大脑各部ＥＥＧ信号复杂度在同一时刻的相对强弱关系和这种关系随时间的变化。并通过对一些脑疾病患者脑电数据的分析,     

功率谱熵在痫性发作大鼠脑电检测中的应用研究

目的:研究功率谱熵在痫性发作大鼠脑电检测中的应用。方法:采用青霉素在大鼠海马微注射制备急性痫性发作模型,以深部电极记录大鼠原始脑电信号,将24只SD大鼠随机分成四组,即正常组(A),对照组(B),单电极组(C),多电极组(D)。C、D组大鼠经致痫后观察未发作期、发作前期、发作期和发作后期四期脑电信号的变化,运用谱熵对四期脑电信号进行分析,并与A、B组进行对比。结果:C组和D组脑电功率谱熵显示两组发作期与未发作期、发作前期、发作后期比较有显著差异(P0.05),发作期明显低于其它各期;未发作期和发作前期相比有明显差异(P0.05),发作前期较未发作期降低;将D组大鼠海马致痫灶(a)及其同侧附近(b)、对侧(c)三点发作各期脑电功率谱熵进行对比分析,发作前期和发作期a、b、c三点比较有明显差异(P0.05),a点最低,c点的功率谱熵值最高。结论:功率谱熵可以预报痫性发作并可对癫痫病灶的定位提供一定的帮助。     

脑电信号的高阶奇异谱分析

奇异谱分析是脑电信号分析的一种新方法,脑电信号的奇异谱可以反映脑电的特征,它有助于研究大脑的动力学行为。奇异谱分析方法是基于二阶统计的方法,反映的是信号时间上和空间上的一种线性相关关系。而脑电信号属于非线性信号,其内在的非线性关系很难通过奇异谱得到真实的反映,从而会丢失某些有用的信息。提出一种新的基于高阶统计的脑电奇异谱分析方法,并将其运用于正常脑电和癫痫患者的脑电分析中。大量的实测信号样本仿真实验结果表明,正常脑电和癫痫脑电的奇异谱有明显的不同。此外,基于高阶统计的奇异谱和基于二阶统计的奇异谱相比更能反映出信号的细节。     

脑电图复杂度分析中的粗粒化问题II.量化对复杂度计算的影响

在对生物医学信号时间序列进行复杂度分析时,粗粒化预处理有可能会造成丢失原始信号中所蕴含的信息,甚至在某些情况下根本改变原信号的动力学性质.用计算机计算时的量化过程也是一种粗粒化,因此也有这类问题.通过对近似熵和我们所定义的C0复杂度这两种复杂度在不同量化精度下对一些典型时间序列复杂度分析的比较研究,发现一般说来量化精度对复杂度分析的影响不是很大,仅当对原始信号进行二值化等极端情况下,才会显著改变原信号的复杂性.对脑电信号进行计算表明上述结论是实际可取的.     

豚鼠背侧海马锥体细胞自发放电特征

实验采用细胞外玻璃微电极采集豚鼠海马神经元放电信号,并将信号转化为峰峰间期(interspike interval,ISI)以研究麻醉和清醒状态海马锥体细胞自发放电线性和非线性特点。实验建立了豚鼠海马锥体细胞与中间神经元电生理鉴别标准;麻醉和清醒状态下豚鼠海马CA1和CA3区锥体细胞自发放电频率、时程、复杂度等无显著区别;麻醉组豚鼠海马锥体细胞ISI序列的复杂度小于清醒组,锥体细胞分型和ISI变异度等表现不同。实验表明,麻醉和清醒状态下豚鼠海马锥体细胞自发放电呈不同线性和非线性特征。传统和非线性研究手段的结合,可能较全面地反映海马锥体细胞自发放电特性。     

3.0MR 高分辨磁敏感加权成像对颅脑弥漫性轴索损伤的诊断价值

目的:探讨3.0TMR高分辨磁敏感加权成像(SWI)序列对颅脑弥漫性轴索损伤(DAI)的诊断价值。方法:选择临床诊断为DAI的30例患者行SWI及常规序列扫描,观察患者病灶等,对比SWI与常规MR序列对DAI病灶形态、分布、数目显示的敏感性,并分析与哥拉斯哥昏迷(GCS)评分及预后的相关性。结果:130例DAI患者SWI序列平均病灶个数为22.83个,明显高于T1WI、T2WI、T2flair序列的1.5个、2.13个、4.1个,比较差异有统计学意义(X2=11.44,P<0.05);2SWI序列皮髓质交界区、白质区、基底节、脑干、小脑、胼胝体DAI病灶呈边界清晰、大小不等点状、片状、串珠状、条状、团状不均低信号;3GCS分值越高DAI平均病灶数目越少,两者呈明显负相关(r=-0.715,P<0.05);4痊愈、好转、死亡患者DAI平均病灶数目、脑中线累及率依次增高,比较差异有统计学意义(F=9.29,X2=13.52,P<0.05)。结论:3.0TMR高分辨SWI序列对DTI的敏感性优于常规序列,病灶数目与GCS评分具有相关性,能够较好地预测患者预后情况。     

局限性癫痫脑电时间序列的三种复杂度计算比较

为探索非线性动力学复杂性测度诊断癫痫病的新方法,对局限性癫痫病患者脑电时间序列进行了三种复杂度（Ｋｃ、Ｃ１、Ｃ２）的计算比较。观察到,痫性导联脑电的三种复杂度多低于对侧导联的值;复杂度Ｋｃ的相对变化量较Ｃ１和Ｃ２大;复杂度Ｋｃ和Ｃ１的变化趋势相似,而复杂度Ｃ２的变化趋势与复杂度Ｋｃ和Ｃ１的规律不尽相同;但正常人ＥＥＧ信号的复杂度没有这种显著变化。结果提示,脑电复杂性测度有可能成为诊断癫痫的特征参数,值得进一步深入研究。     

Investigation of changes in EEG complexity during memory retrieval: the effect of midazolam

The aim of this study is applying nonlinear methods to assess changes in brain dynamics in a placebo-controlled study of midazolam-induced amnesia. Subjects injected with saline and midazolam during study, performed old/new recognition memory tests with EEG recording. Based on previous studies, as midazolam causes anterograde amnesia, we expected that midazolam would affect the EEG’s degree of complexity. Recurrence quantification analysis, and approximate entropy were used in this assessment. These methods compare with other nonlinear techniques such as computation of the correlation dimension, are suitable for non-stationary EEG signals. Our findings suggest that EEG’s complexity decreases during memory retrieval. Although this trend is observed in nonlinear curves related to the midazolam condition, the overall complexity were greater than in the saline condition. This result implies that impaired memory function caused by midazolam is associated with greater EEG’s complexity compared to normal memory retrieval in saline injection.     

Complexity of resting-state EEG activity in the patients with early-stage Parkinson’s disease

To investigate the abnormal brain activities in the early stage of Parkinson’s disease (PD), the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded with 20 channels from non-dementia PD patients (18 patients, 8 females) and age matched healthy controls (18 subjects, 8 females) during the resting state. Two methods based on the ordinal patterns of the recorded series, i.e., permutation entropy (PE) and order index (OI), were introduced to characterize the complexity of the cortical activities for two groups. It was observed that the resting-state EEG of PD patients showed lower PE and higher OI than healthy controls, which indicated that the early-stage PD caused the reduced complexity of EEG. We further applied two methods to determine the complexity of EEG rhythms in five sub-bands. The results showed that the gamma, beta and alpha rhythms of PD patients were characterized by lower PE and higher OI, i.e., reduced complexity, than healthy subjects. No significant differences were observed in theta or delta rhythms between two groups. The findings suggested that PE and OI were promising methods to detect the abnormal changes in the dynamics of EEG signals associated with early-stage PD. Further, such changes in EEG complexity may be the early markers of the cortical or subcortical dysfunction caused by PD.     

Multivariate multi-scale weighted permutation entropy analysis of EEG complexity for Alzheimer’s disease

The complexity change of brain activity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an interesting topic for clinical purpose. To investigate the dynamical complexity of brain activity in AD, a multivariate multi-scale weighted permutation entropy (MMSWPE) method is proposed to measure the complexity of electroencephalograph (EEG) obtained in AD patients. MMSWPE combines the weighted permutation entropy and the multivariate multi-scale method. It is able to quantify not only the characteristics of different brain regions and multiple time scales but also the amplitude information contained in the multichannel EEG signals simultaneously. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by both the simulated chaotic signals and EEG recordings of AD patients. The simulation results from the Lorenz system indicate that MMSWPE has the ability to distinguish the multivariate signals with different complexity. In addition, the EEG analysis results show that in contrast with the normal group, the significantly decreased complexity of AD patients is distributed in the temporal and occipitoparietal regions for the theta and the alpha bands, and also distributed from the right frontal to the left occipitoparietal region for the theta, the alpha and the beta bands at each time scale, which may be attributed to the brain dysfunction. Therefore, it suggests that the MMSWPE method may be a promising method to reveal dynamic changes in AD.     

Complexity of Multi-Channel Electroencephalogram Signal Analysis in Childhood Absence Epilepsy

Absence epilepsy is an important epileptic syndrome in children. Multiscale entropy (MSE), an entropy-based method to measure dynamic complexity at multiple temporal scales, is helpful to disclose the information of brain connectivity. This study investigated the complexity of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals using MSE in children with absence epilepsy. In this research, EEG signals from 19 channels of the entire brain in 21 children aged 5-12 years with absence epilepsy were analyzed. The EEG signals of pre-ictal (before seizure) and ictal states (during seizure) were analyzed by sample entropy (SamEn) and MSE methods. Variations of complexity index (CI), which was calculated from MSE, from the pre-ictal to the ictal states were also analyzed. The entropy values in the pre-ictal state were significantly higher than those in the ictal state. The MSE revealed more differences in analysis compared to the SamEn. The occurrence of absence seizures decreased the CI in all channels. Changes in CI were also significantly greater in the frontal and central parts of the brain, indicating fronto-central cortical involvement of “cortico-thalamo-cortical network” in the occurrence of generalized spike and wave discharges during absence seizures. Moreover, higher sampling frequency was more sensitive in detecting functional changes in the ictal state. There was significantly higher correlation in ictal states in the same patient in different seizures but there were great differences in CI among different patients, indicating that CI changes were consistent in different absence seizures in the same patient but not from patient to patient. This implies that the brain stays in a homogeneous activation state during the absence seizures. In conclusion, MSE analysis is better than SamEn analysis to analyze complexity of EEG, and CI can be used to investigate the functional brain changes during absence seizures.     

A New Method for Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of the Multi-kinetics Neural Mass Model

ObjectiveThe aim was to use a new method to analyze the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of the multi-kinetics neural mass model. We hope that this new method can be as an auxiliary judgment tool for the diagnosis of brain diseases and the identification of brain activity states.MethodsWe apply the Lorenz plot to analyze the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from the multi-kinetics neural mass models. The standard deviations in two orthogonal directions of the Lorenz plot are further used to quantify the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of EEG signals.ResultsThe results show that the normalized signal frequency power spectrum may not be able to distinguish normal EEG signals and epileptiform spikes, but the Lorenz plot can distinguish the normal EEG signals and epileptiform spikes effectively. For EEG signals with multi-rhythms, the Lorenz plot of all the simulated signals are oval, but the value of SD1/SD2 increases monotonically when the multi-rhythm EEG signals change from low frequency to high frequency.ConclusionThe Lorenz plot of EEG signals with different rhythms presents different distribution. It is an effective nonlinear analysis method for EEG signals.     

Investigation of EEG abnormalities in the early stage of Parkinson’s disease

The objective of the present study was to investigate brain activity abnormalities in the early stage of Parkinson’s disease (PD). To achieve this goal, eyes-closed resting state electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded from 15 early-stage PD patients and 15 age-matched healthy controls. The AR Burg method and the wavelet packet entropy (WPE) method were used to characterize EEG signals in different frequency bands between the groups, respectively. In the case of the AR Burg method, an increase of relative powers in the δ- and θ-band, and a decrease of relative powers in the α- and β-band were observed for patients compared with controls. For the WPE method, EEG signals from patients showed significant higher entropy over the global frequency domain. Furthermore, WPE in the γ-band of patients was higher than that of controls, while WPE in the δ-, θ-, α- and β-band were all lower. All of these changes in EEG dynamics may represent early signs of cortical dysfunction, which have potential use as biomarkers of PD in the early stage. Our findings may be further used for early intervention and early diagnosis of PD.     

Measures of entropy and complexity in altered states of consciousness

Quantification of complexity in neurophysiological signals has been studied using different methods, especially those from information or dynamical system theory. These studies have revealed a dependence on different states of consciousness, and in particular that wakefulness is characterized by a greater complexity of brain signals, perhaps due to the necessity for the brain to handle varied sensorimotor information. Thus, these frameworks are very useful in attempts to quantify cognitive states. We set out to analyze different types of signals obtained from scalp electroencephalography (EEG), intracranial EEG and magnetoencephalography recording in subjects during different states of consciousness: resting wakefulness, different sleep stages and epileptic seizures. The signals were analyzed using a statistical (permutation entropy) and a deterministic (permutation Lempel–Ziv complexity) analytical method. The results are presented in complexity versus entropy graphs, showing that the values of entropy and complexity of the signals tend to be greatest when the subjects are in fully alert states, falling in states with loss of awareness or consciousness. These findings were robust for all three types of recordings. We propose that the investigation of the structure of cognition using the frameworks of complexity will reveal mechanistic aspects of brain dynamics associated not only with altered states of consciousness but also with normal and pathological conditions.     

完全睡眠剥夺对大脑注意网络冲突效应和脑电样本熵的影响*

目的: 本研究分析睡眠剥夺对个体选择性注意网络冲突效应和脑电样本熵的影响,探讨睡眠剥夺对大脑注意网络的影响。方法: 25名健康受试者参与36 h完全睡眠剥夺试验。试验于当天9:00开始,于次日21:00结束,试验采用自身前后对照设计。受试者在睡眠剥夺前后分别完成注意网络任务,同步采集受试者的脑电图。用脑电样本熵算法分析脑电图的delta、theta、alpha、beta和gamma频率段的脑电复杂度并对比各频段脑电样本熵在睡眠剥夺前、后的变化。结果: 同睡眠剥夺前比较,睡眠剥夺后与受试者的注意网络冲突效应密切相关的反应时显著下降(P＜0.01),正确率显著增加(P＜0.01)。脑电样本熵分析发现在beta频率段,与注意网络冲突控制相关的脑电样本熵值在睡眠剥夺后明显增大(P＜0.01)。其余脑电频率段脑电样本熵未发现显著差异。结论: 表明完全睡眠剥夺后大脑的注意网络冲突效应降低,表明睡眠剥夺后执行冲突控制能力的下降。