Characteristics of the interhemispheric EEG relationships in assessing the functional state of the human brain

In healthy subjects (11 right-handed men) reorganization was studied of intra- and interhemispheric correlation of the electrical brain activity at transition from the state of alertness to drowsiness. At the lowering of alertness level, the coherence of hemispheres symmetrical points changed not abruptly, with a tendency towards an increase at differently directed character of changes of combinations of separate physiological rhythms ranges. Comparison of the EEG coherence changes within the right and left hemispheres revealed a greater reactivity of the left (dominant) hemisphere. The reduction of the predominance (observed in the dominant hemisphere in alertness) of the degree of EEG conjunction, at transition to drowsiness, leads to smoothing of interhemispheric asymmetry in the organization of electrical brain processes.     

Neurophysiologial Study of the Hemispheric Organization of the EEG Spectrum in Mental Infantilism in Adolescents

Sixteen adolescents between 15 to 17 years of age with mental infantilism syndrome participated in the study. The data were compared with the control group including 10 mentally and neurologically healthy young subjects, secondary-school students in the 10th or 11th grades. The EEG was recorded monopolarly from 12 leads in the states of quiet wakefulness (closed eyes), on general activation (open eyes), when performing cognitive hemispheric-specialized tests, and when exposed to aversive sound stimulation. The studies showed that EEG spectral parameters could be regarded as the objective criteria of mental infantilism. In the baseline, the patients demonstrated the EEG characteristics typical of the earlier ontogenesis stage, i.e., a generalized increase in the spectral powers of -, ₁-, ₂-, and ₁-ranges and a decrease in the interhemispheric coherence in the frontal temporal region. When performing cognitive hemispheric-specialized tests, infantile patients were characterized by the insufficient differentiation of reactions to functional loads in terms of the frequency ranges, topography, and lateralization of changes, with the predominance of shifts in the ₂-range that is directly connected with nonspecific aspects of activation. On the presentation of sound stimulation, only the patients' group demonstrated an increase in the power of slow EEG ranges and interhemispheric coherence in the frontal temporal area. The results demonstrate the delayed formation of hemispheric specialization with a more retarded maturation of the nervous networks of the left hemisphere and the dysfunction of the frontal temporal regions of the brain.     

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.     

Influence of Short-Term Relaxation on the Organization of the Brain Electrical Activity of Young Schoolchildren in the State of Quiet Wakefulness

Relaxation-induced changes in characteristics of the functional state of the nervous system (EEG parameters and electrodermal resistance (EDR)) were studied in 30 schoolchildren aged 9–10 years. A multichannel EEG was recorded from the occipital, parietal, temporo-parieto-occipital, central, and frontal areas of both brain hemispheres in three test conditions: quiet wakefulness, R, and recovery of the initial state. Simultaneously, the EDR was monitored. EEG amplitude spectra and coherence were calculated. Prior to and after relaxation, a cognitive test to determine the extent of short-term auditory verbal memory was performed. While changes in the EDR were reversible, relaxation-induced changes in the EEG parameters persisted after relaxation in many subjects. Changes in EEG coherence between distant derivations were most stable. Since short-term auditory verbal memory improved after relaxation, the postrelaxation changes in the EEG parameters were considered to reflect positive changes arising in the brain function and increasing the efficiency of cognitive processes.     

Effects of sleep pressure on endogenous cardiac autonomic activity and body temperature.

This study investigated the effects of variations in sleep pressure on cardiac autonomic activity and body temperature. In a counterbalanced design, 12 healthy, young subjects (6 men and 6 women) remained recumbent during 30 h of wakefulness (high sleep pressure) and 6 h of wakefulness (low sleep pressure). Both periods of wakefulness were immediately followed by a sleep opportunity, and the first 2 h of sleep were analyzed. During extended hours of wakefulness, a reduction in heart rate was mediated by a decline in cardiac sympathetic activity (measured via preejection period) and the maintenance of cardiac parasympathetic activity (measured via respiratory sinus arrhythmia). In subsequent high-pressure sleep, parasympathetic activity was amplified and sympathetic activity was negatively associated with electroencephalographic slow-wave activity. Sleep deprivation had no impact on foot temperature, but it did alter the pattern of change in core body temperature. A downregulation of cardiac autonomic activity during both extended hours of wakefulness and subsequent sleep may respectively provide "protection" and "recovery" from the temporal extension of cardiac demand.     

Comparison of EEG-Features and Classification Methods for Motor Imagery in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness

Current research aims at identifying voluntary brain activation in patients who are behaviorally diagnosed as being unconscious, but are able to perform commands by modulating their brain activity patterns. This involves machine learning techniques and feature extraction methods such as applied in brain computer interfaces. In this study, we try to answer the question if features/classification methods which show advantages in healthy participants are also accurate when applied to data of patients with disorders of consciousness. A sample of healthy participants (N = 22), patients in a minimally conscious state (MCS; N = 5), and with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS; N = 9) was examined with a motor imagery task which involved imagery of moving both hands and an instruction to hold both hands firm. We extracted a set of 20 features from the electroencephalogram and used linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbor classification, and support vector machines (SVM) as classification methods. In healthy participants, the best classification accuracies were seen with coherences (mean = .79; range = .53−.94) and power spectra (mean = .69; range = .40−.85). The coherence patterns in healthy participants did not match the expectation of central modulated -rhythm. Instead, coherence involved mainly frontal regions. In healthy participants, the best classification tool was SVM. Five patients had at least one feature-classifier outcome with p0.05 (none of which were coherence or power spectra), though none remained significant after false-discovery rate correction for multiple comparisons. The present work suggests the use of coherences in patients with disorders of consciousness because they show high reliability among healthy subjects and patient groups. However, feature extraction and classification is a challenging task in unresponsive patients because there is no ground truth to validate the results.     

The relevance of drowsiness in the circadian cycle of farm animals

Electrocorticography and concurrent electromyography were used to establish the quantitative duration of the states of sleep and wakefulness during the circadian cycle, and also during the night-time, in four species of farm animals. Associated attitudes and physiological data were also recorded. Drowsiness is described as a definite stable state of wakefulness, as opposed to alert wakefulness. The state of wakefulness occupied 85 per cent of the 24-hr period in the herbivorous species studied but only 67 per cent in pigs. Cows spend the greater proportion of this wakeful period in the state of drowsiness, horses spend the greater proportion in alert wakefulness. A considerable amount of the wakeful period of farm animals well-accustomed to their environment is spent in the drowsy state, when they are not asleep or actively ingesting or searching for food.     

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.     

EEG frequency: amplitude characteristics at different levels of consciousness

Relationship was studied between the level of consciousness and the level of the brain activation. State of transition from wakefulness to drowsiness was used as a model of gradual decrease in the level of consciousness. A change in the intensity and quality of appearing involuntarily mental processes served as an index of the level of consciousness as determined by subjects' self-reports. It was found that a certain EEG profile corresponded to each level of consciousness under study. The data obtained showed that the lowest level of activation corresponded to a state in which a subject develops inhibition of "internal speech", "failure of thoughts". In this case, the dynamics of the EEG high frequency rhythm changes was possibly related to the mechanism of transmission of cognitive information.     

Electrographic manifestations of "falling asleep" in isolated cat cortex]

Experiments were conducted on unrestricted cats; a study was made of the electrical activity of the neuronally isolated cortex during the wakeful hours and sleep. Transition from wakefulness to sleep was accompanied in the isolated cortex by the manifestations of drowsiness accompanied by the corresponding changes in the electrocorticogram of the isolated hemisphere. Electrographic manifestation of drowsiness in the isolated cortex depended on the time lapse after the operation and was mostly pronounced during the late period after the isolation of the cortex.     

Coherent-phase characteristics of the cortical potentials over a wide frequency range in dogs in a state of calm wakefulness

The spectra of coherence (Coh) and phasic shifts (PhS) of cortical potentials were studied by correlation-spectral analysis in a wide frequency range (1--100 Hz) in dogs in a state of quiet wakefulness. Estimation was made by parameters: significant Coh (above 0.5), high Coh (above 0.75), considered PhS (not above +/- 30 degrees), small PhS (not above +/- 15 degrees C). The presence is shown of individual features in coherent-phasic characteristics of neocortex potentials. High values of cross-correlation coefficients (Cc) between cortical potentials correspond in Coh spectra to a great part (90--100% peaks) of significant Coh, in which the great part (90--70% peaks) belongs to the high Coh with small PhS (in most cases). A certain correspondence, though expressed weaker, persisted also for lower values of Cc, Coh, and considered PhS. Coherent-phasic relations between potentials of certain cortical areas are characterized by stability in each animal; a tendency to it is manifest in all animals, despite individual differences of the brain electrical activity.     

Collapsibility of the human upper airway during normal sleep

Upper airway resistance (UAR) increases in normal subjects during the transition from wakefulness to sleep. To examine the influence of sleep on upper airway collapsibility, inspiratory UAR (epiglottis to nares) and genioglossus electromyogram (EMG) were measured in six healthy men before and during inspiratory resistive loading. UAR increased significantly (P less than 0.05) from wakefulness to non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep [3.1 +/- 0.4 to 11.7 +/- 3.5 (SE) cmH2O.1-1.s]. Resistive load application during wakefulness produced small increments in UAR. However, during NREM sleep, UAR increased dramatically with loading in four subjects although two subjects demonstrated little change. This increment in UAR from wakefulness to sleep correlated closely with the rise in UAR during loading while asleep (e.g., load 12: r = 0.90, P less than 0.05), indicating consistent upper airway behavior during sleep. On the other hand, no measurement of upper airway behavior during wakefulness was predictive of events during sleep. Although the influence of sleep on the EMG was difficult to assess, peak inspiratory genioglossus EMG clearly increased (P less than 0.05) after load application during NREM sleep. Finally, minute ventilation fell significantly from wakefulness values during NREM sleep, with the largest decrement in sleeping minute ventilation occurring in those subjects having the greatest awake-to-sleep increment in UAR (r = -0.88, P less than 0.05). We conclude that there is marked variability among normal men in upper airway collapsibility during sleep.     

Analysis of EEG characteristic at early stages of depression using method of independent components

Independent Component Analysis (ICA) was used for 19-channel resting EEG analysis 111 patients at early stages of depressive disorder and 526 age-matched healthy subjects. Comparison of independent components power spectra in depressed patients and healthy subjects in two states: Eyes closed and Eyes open, has revealed significant differences between groups for three frequency bands: Theta (4-7.5 Hz), Alpha (7.5-14 Hz), and Beta (14-20 Hz). Increased power of alpha and theta activity in depressed patients at parietal and occipital sites may be caused by decreased cortical activation of these regions. Diffuse enhancement of beta activity level can correlate with anxiety symptoms which take an important place in clinical picture of depressive disorder at early stages. Using of ICA method for comparison of spectral characteristics of EEG in groups of patients with different brain pathology and healthy subjects gives a possibility to localize more precisely the discovered differences as compare to traditional analysis of EEG spectra.     

Role of the Visual Afferent Stream in Recovery of the Postural Control in Different Periods after Craniocerebral Injury

A comprehensive posturographic (PG), electroencephalographic, and clinical examination was performed during rehabilitation in 17 patients (mean age 27.5 ± 7.4 years) who had suffered a severe craniocerebral injury (SCCI). Of these, nine were examined soon after the SCCI and eight, in the period of remote consequences of the SCCI. The patients were compared to a control group of 18 healthy subjects (mean age 27.8 ± 12.2). The PG studies showed that, in the healthy subjects, the amplitude of sway of the common center of pressure (A_CCP) in the absence of the visual control was higher than with the eyes open. The A_CCP was higher in the sagittal than in the frontal plane and decreased during optokinetic stimulation. In the control group, rhythmic photostimulation produced a local increase in interhemispheric EEG coherence in symmetrical occipital and parietal cortical areas. In the patients examined early after the SCCI with the eyes open, the A_CCP was higher than in the healthy subjects, especially in the frontal plane. The A_CCP did not decrease in the Romberg posture and increased during optokinetic stimulation. In these patients, rhythmic photostimulation was accompanied by a generalized increase in mean interhemispheric EEG coherence as compared to the resting level. In the remote period after the SCCI, the PG and EEG responses to a decrease or an increase in the visual afferent stream proved to be inverted: the patients stood better with the eyes closed than with them open and photostimulation produced a decrease in EEG coherence in the occipitoparietal areas of the cortex. The results confirmed a greater efficiency of rehabilitation in the early period after the SCCI. Thus, specific PG and EEG reactions were observed in the SCCI patients at different stages of recovery. The generalized reactivity and “infantile” features of the EEG and PG rearrangements characteristic of the early period after the SCCI were considered to be a favorable prognostic sign for the recovery of the integrative brain activity and postural control of a patient. The inversion of the reactions in the remote period after the SCCI testified to limited possibilities of the recovery of the impaired functions and was indicative of a pathological type of compensatory rearrangements.__________Translated from Fiziologiya Cheloveka, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2005, pp. 5–13.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Zhavoronkova, Maksakova, Shchekut’ev.     

A biomathematical model of a human operator’s falling asleep

Quantitative analysis of the transition from wakefulness to sleep and prediction of the moment when errors in professional activity appear because of a decrease in the arousal level require microinterval monitoring of falling asleep. A psychomotor test was developed that rapidly decreased the arousal level, which made it possible to record as many as 10–20 episodes of correct and erroneous activity within 40 min and isolate the periods electrophysiologically corresponding to wakefulness and brief sleep. Seventy subjects were tested, and 6700 fragments of recordings with correct and erroneous performance were analyzed. Analysis of the experimental data showed that the transition from wakefulness to sleep includes intermediate short and relatively long periods of wakefulness and sleep, whose durations are distributed according to the double exponential law. A mathematical model describing the time course of alternation of these four states of wakefulness and sleep predicts the probability of prolonged, potentially dangerous disturbances in operator activity because of microsleep as dependent on the initial state and individual characteristics of subjects. The results will be useful both for the development of devices monitoring and predicting changes in the physiological arousal level and for analysis of traffic and industrial accidents.     

Spectral power and cortical interactions in the beta2 rhythm in normal subjects and schizophrenic patients

Spectral and coherence characteristics of the beta 2 rhythm (20-40 Hz) were compared in patients with acute schizophrenia (the first episode), patients with chronic schizophrenia (disease duration more than two years), and healthy subjects (control group) during cognitive task performance. Examination showed the "excessive" spectral power of this rhythm in the prefrontal cortical areas in patients with acute schizophrenia and its "insufficient" spectral power in all derivations of the right hemisphere in patients with the chronic form as compared to the controls. The similarity of the beta 2 spectral power distribution in different cortical areas measured by covariance method decreased with increase in psychopathologic manifestations. Coherent analysis revealed a substantially lower number of cortico-cortical functional connections in schizophrenic patients than in healthy subjects, absence of interhemispheric connections in patients with acute schizophrenia, and a slight increase in their number if patients with the chronic disease. However, as distinct from the controls revealing many inter- and intrahemispheric connections in all cortical areas, in schizophrenics the interhemispheric connections were observed only in the posterior cortical regions. The results point to a disorder of interhemispheric interaction in schizophrenia.     

Modeling EEG fractal dimension changes in wake and drowsy states in humans—a preliminary study

Aim of this preliminary study was to examine and compare topographic distribution of Higuchi's fractal dimension (FD, measure of signal complexity) of EEG signals between states of relaxed wakefulness and drowsiness, as well as their FD differences. The experiments were performed on 10 healthy individuals using a fourteen-channel montage. An explanation is offered on the causes of the detected FD changes. FD values of 60 s records belonging to wake (Hori's stage 1) and drowsy (Hori's stages 2-4) states were calculated for each channel and each subject. In 136 out of 140 epochs an increase in FD was obtained. Relationship between signal FD and its relative alpha amplitude was mathematically modeled and we quantitatively demonstrated that the increase in FD was predominantly due to a reduction in alpha activity. The model was generalized to include other EEG oscillations. By averaging FD values for each channel across 10 subjects, four clusters (O2O1; T6P4T5P3; C3F3F4C4F8F7; T4T3) for the wake and two clusters (O2O1P3T6P4T5; C3C4F4F3F8T4T3F7) for the drowsy state were statistically verified. Topographic distribution of FD values in wakefulness showed a lateral symmetry and a partial fronto-occipital gradient. In drowsiness, a reduction in the number of clusters was detected, due to regrouping of channels T3, T4, O1 and O2. Topographic distribution of absolute FD differences revealed largest values at F7, O1 and F3. Reorganization of channel clusters showed that regionalized brain activity, specific for wakefulness, became more global by entering into drowsiness. Since the global increase in FD during wake-to-drowsy transition correlated with the decrease of alpha power, we inferred that increase of EEG complexity may not necessarily be an index of brain activation.     

Sequential amplitude variations in alpha band component in human electroencephalograms during sleep onset

The purpose of this research is to elucidate the amplitude variations of alpha band component in human electroencephalographic records during the transition between wakefulness and stage 1 sleep. The records from 16 adult male subjects were mathematically analyzed in successive 3-s epochs using a unique method of calculation (RLSSR). Amplitude variations are described herein. (i) General amplitudes are high during wakefulness and low during stage 1 sleep. Irregular fluctuations in amplitude are superimposed on these two levels. (ii) A large, steep, characteristic decline occurs during wakefulness. Two EEG patterns at the bottom of the decline represent arousal and EEG in stage 1 sleep, and these are referred to as big-decline-w and big-decline-s. The transition between the two levels appears as a big-decline-s rather than a gradual decrease. (iii) Thirteen records showed a multiple big-decline-s pattern before stage 1 sleep. The period from the first to the last big-decline-s is referred to as the “approach period” to sleep. Three subjects had no such approach and only one big-decline-s that appeared at the end of wakefulness. (iv) The bottom of the last big-decline-s of the three sites, occipital, central and frontal, appeared simultaneously in 6 subjects, 9 had a one-epoch gap, and 1 had two such gaps. The decline of the slope of the last big-decline-s showed high regression to an exponential curve. It is suggested that this characteristic pattern is the significant index of psychophysiological transition from wakefulness to sleep.

     

EEG correlates of the states of visual and auditory attention in healthy subjects

In order to determine more accurately the EEG markers of different types of attention (AT) of a healthy adult, 14 young healthy subjects (aged 18–30 years) were subjected to spectral coherent analysis of the electrical activity of the brain in the baseline state and during activation of different forms of AT (the orienting response to the sound tone and opening of the eyes, involuntary and voluntary visual AT). In the last two cases, specially developed computer-aided techniques were used. The quantitative differences in the states were assessed on the basis of nonparametric (the Mann-Whitney test) and parametric (Student’s t test) statistics. In three subjects, EEG and fMRI comparisons of the brain response to opening of the eyes were made. It was shown that the activation of different forms of AT in healthy subjects is accompanied by considerable diffuse nonspecific changes in the EEG spectral coherent characteristics (a decrease in the average spectral frequency and power, as well as in coherence) in combination with more local, more often oppositely directed shifts in the region of the cortical representation of the working analyzer. Complex systemic rearrangements of the brain activity involving all components of the activating system, as well as the specifics of different forms of AT connected with the rearrangement of activity between its divisions, are reflected in the diffuse changes of intercentral interaction. For example, marked reactivity of the symmetrical frontopolar (F _p1-F _p2) and the anterotemporal (F ₇-F ₈) cortical areas with unidirectional maximum shifts during voluntary AT is likely to reflect the responses of the frontothalamic component of the activating system. The reciprocity of the behavior of interhemispheric frontopolar and temporal relationships seems to be determined by the activity of its different components: frontothalamic and hippocampal. The local component of the EEG response to opening of the eyes in the form of increased α coherence in the occipital areas is coupled with increased oxygenation of blood in the cortical representation of the visual analyzer (the +BOLD effect of the fMRI response).     

Spectral analysis of the human EEG in acutely developing foci of irritation at the diencephalic and brain stem levels

The dynamic study of EEG spectra and coherence in 52 patients in early period after tumor ablation at the diencephalic (27 patients) and brainstem (25 patients) levels with favourable (24 patients) and lethal (28 patients) outcomes revealed a dependence of their changes on the reversibility or irreversibility of pathological irritation of these brain levels. At regressively developing foci and retained compensatory mechanisms characteristic changes of EEG relations were seen in the central cortical areas, i. e. in cortical projection zone of the nonspecific thalamic pathways. The changes observed consisted of EEG synchronization in the band of 7 cps and sharp coherence increase while changes of EEG correlations in other cortical areas were unsimilar. Gradual EEG normalization with alpha-rhythm restoration passed through the stage of sigma-rhythm and slow sleeplike waves which indicated the safety of brainstem-subcortical hypnogenic systems. In patients with destructive foci at the diencephalic and brainstem levels, i. e. under conditions of brain functioning similar to "cerveau isolé" and "encephale isolé",--a general coherence decrease and EEG synchronization in the band of 5 cps, or generalized slow, monomorphic oscillations were observed.