Results Suggestive of the Brain Trying to Re-Organizee Itself and Recover During the Early Stages of an Epileptic Seizure?

Abstract

It literally “boggles the mind” to try to imagine the chaos that must be occurring in the brain during an epileptic seizure! No wonder seizures are often referred to as ‘brainstorms’! This paper presents some results of my studies analyzing the EEGs of patients suffering seizures, during the brainstorms themselves. Then, based on cross-frequency coupling strength computations, contour plot snapshots are presented which suggest to me that they may be showing the brain ‘struggling’ to regain control. Results are presented in graphical form for the progression of four epileptic seizures. There are two each from two patients, during the first dozen or two seconds after onset, for seizures lasting roughly three-quarters of to a full minute. Much longer time studies were done for each in my four recent SSRN e-papers, covering pre-seizure and post-seizure epochs as well. Using the metric of harmonic wavelet bicoherence, MATLAB contour plots of cross-frequency coupling of EEG oscillations were created. A short sequence of such plots is presented for each seizure, stepped forward in time by a second (or sometimes less), from a contour plot at or near seizure onset. Each sequence shows how the pattern of cross-frequency coupling soon after seizure onset morphs into noticeable, somewhat dramatic, frequency sub-band coupling. This coupling may be driven/modulated by narrow, lower-frequency sub-bands, as suggested by key contour plots. My conjectures may well spring mostly from my imagination/wishful thinking, and are likely premature, at the very least. But, for these seizures from two different patients with a specific, common type of seizure, complex partial, I seem to see a distinct pattern of brain activity, 'fighting' to reset itself, to escape the seizure. There appears to be a ‘characteristic’ spiking frequency for each seizure, which might identify a specific type(s) and location(s) of neurons responsible for this? Perhaps such knowledge could eventually lead to more effective treatment options? Much further work needs to be done, though.