EEG Parameters Research Articles

Dyskinesia Impairment Scale scores in Dutch pre-school children after neonatal therapeutic hypothermia.

Neonatal therapeutic hypothermia (TH) can ameliorate or prevent the development of dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP) after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The Dyskinesia Impairment Scale (DIS) was recently launched to quantify dyskinetic (dystonic and choreatic) motor features in patients with CP. In TH treated children, who are at risk of developing dyskinetic CP, we aimed to determine DIS-scores at pre-school age. In 21 Dutch pre-school children (3-6 years of age) who had received TH according to the Dutch-Flemish treatment protocol, we determined DIS-scores. We associated DIS-scores with 1. age-matched control values (Kuiper etal., 2018) [1], and 2. previously reported DIS-score range in dyskinetic CP (Monbaliu E etal., 2015). The motor phenotype was determined as: normal (n=18/21), mildly impaired (reduced coordination (n=2/21)) and abnormal (dyskinetic CP; n=1/21). In absence of CP (n=20/21), DIS-scores were lower (more favorable) than in dyskinetic CP, without any overlapping group scores (mean difference: 71 points; p<.05). However, the obtained DIS-scores were still higher than previously reported in healthy age-matched controls (mean difference: 14 points; p<.05). There was an association between DIS-scores and retrospective neonatal MRI (basal ganglia and thalamus injury on diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)) and (a)EEG parameters (p<.05). In the vast majority (95%) of Dutch TH-HIE treated pre-school children, the phenotypic motor outcome was favorable. However, DIS-scores were moderately increased compared with healthy age-matched controls. Future studies may elucidate the significance of moderately increased DIS-scores should to further extent.

Sleep Network Deterioration as a Function of Dim-Light-At-Night Exposure Duration in a Mouse Model.

Artificial light, despite its widespread and valuable use, has been associated with deterioration of health and well-being, including altered circadian timing and sleep disturbances, particularly in nocturnal exposure. Recent findings from our lab reveal significant sleep and sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) changes owing to three months exposure to dim-light-at-night (DLAN). Aiming to further explore the detrimental effects of DLAN exposure, in the present study, we continuously recorded sleep EEG and the electromyogram for baseline 24-h and following 6-h sleep deprivation in a varied DLAN duration scheme. C57BL/6J mice were exposed to a 12:12 h light:DLAN cycle (75lux:5lux) vs. a 12:12 h light:dark cycle (75lux:0lux) for one day, one week, and one month. Our results show that sleep was already affected by a mere day of DLAN exposure with additional complications emerging with increasing DLAN exposure duration, such as the gradual delay of the daily 24-h vigilance state rhythms. We conducted detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) on the locomotor activity data following 1-month and 3-month DLAN exposure, and a significantly less healthy rest-activity pattern, based on the decreased alpha values, was found in both conditions compared to the control light-dark. Taking into account the behavioral, sleep and the sleep EEG parameters, our data suggest that DLAN exposure, even in the shortest duration, induces deleterious effects; nevertheless, potential compensatory mechanisms render the organism partly adjustable and able to cope. We think that, for this reason, our data do not always depict linear divergence among groups, as compared with control conditions. Chronic DLAN exposure impacts the sleep regulatory system, but also brain integrity, diminishing its adaptability and reactivity, especially apparent in the sleep EEG alterations and particular low alpha values following DFA.

EEG Biomarkers Related With the Functional State of Stroke Patients.

IntroductionRecent studies explored promising new quantitative methods to analyze electroencephalography (EEG) signals. This paper analyzes the correlation of two EEG parameters, Brain Symmetry Index (BSI) and Laterality Coefficient (LC), with established functional scales for the stroke assessment.MethodsThirty-two healthy subjects and thirty-six stroke patients with upper extremity hemiparesis were recruited for this study. The stroke patients where subdivided in three groups according to the stroke location: Cortical, Subcortical, and Cortical + Subcortical. The participants performed assessment visits to record the EEG in the resting state and perform functional tests using rehabilitation scales. Then, stroke patients performed 25 sessions using a motor-imagery based Brain Computer Interface system (BCI). BSI was calculated with the EEG data in resting state and LC was calculated with the Event-Related Synchronization maps.ResultsThe results of this study demonstrated significant differences in the BSI between the healthy group and Subcortical group (P = 0.001), and also between the healthy and Cortical+Subcortical group (P = 0.019). No significant differences were found between the healthy group and the Cortical group (P = 0.505). Furthermore, the BSI analysis in the healthy group based on gender showed statistical differences (P = 0.027). In the stroke group, the correlation between the BSI and the functional state of the upper extremity assessed by Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) was also significant, ρ = −0.430 and P = 0.046. The correlation between the BSI and the FMA-Lower extremity was not significant (ρ = −0.063, P = 0.852). Similarly, the LC calculated in the alpha band has significative correlation with FMA of upper extremity (ρ = −0.623 and P < 0.001) and FMA of lower extremity (ρ = −0.509 and P = 0.026). Other important significant correlations between LC and functional scales were observed. In addition, the patients showed an improvement in the FMA-upper extremity after the BCI therapy (ΔFMA = 1 median [IQR: 0–8], P = 0.002).ConclusionThe quantitative EEG tools used here may help support our understanding of stroke and how the brain changes during rehabilitation therapy. These tools can help identify changes in EEG biomarkers and parameters during therapy that might lead to improved therapy methods and functional prognoses.

Assessment of mental workload based on multi-physiological signals.

BACKGROUND: Mental workload is one of the contributing factors to human errors in road accidents or other potentially adverse incidents.OBJECTIVE: This research probes the effects of mental workload on the electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) of subjects in visual monitoring tasks, based on which a comprehensive evaluation model for mental workload is established effectively.METHODS: Three degrees of mental workload were obtained by monitoring tasks with different levels of difficulty. 20 healthy subjects were selected to take part in the research.RESULTS: The subjective scores showed a significant increase with the increase of task difficulty, meanwhile the reaction time (RT) increased and the accuracy decreased significantly, which proved the validity of three degrees of mental workload induced. For the EEG parameters, a significant decrease of energy was found in Frontal, Parietal and Occipital with the increase of level of mental workload, as well as a significant decrease of energy in Frontal, Central and Occipital, meanwhile a significant increase of energy occurred in Frontal and Occipital. There was a significant decrease of / in Occipital, and significant increases of / and ( in Frontal, Central and Occipital, meanwhile ( and WPE decreased significantly in Frontal and Occipital. Among the ECG parameters, it was shown that Mean RR, RMSSD, HF_norm and SampEn decreased significantly with the increase of task difficulty, while LF_norm and LF/HF showed significant increases. These EEG indictors in Occipital and ECG indictors were chosen and constituted a multidimensional original sample. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to extract the principal elements and decreased the dimension of sample space in order to simplify the calculation, based on which an effective classification model with accuracy of 80% was achieved by support vector machine (SVM).CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the proposed algorithm can be applied to mental workload monitoring.

Frontal EEG Changes with the Recovery of Carotid Blood Flow in a Cardiac Arrest Swine Model.

Monitoring cerebral circulation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is essential to improve patients’ prognosis and quality of life. We assessed the feasibility of non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) parameters as predictive factors of cerebral resuscitation in a ventricular fibrillation (VF) swine model. After 1 min untreated VF, four cycles of basic life support were performed and the first defibrillation was administered. Sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was confirmed if a palpable pulse persisted for 20 min. Otherwise, one cycle of advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) and defibrillation were administered immediately. Successfully defibrillated animals were continuously monitored. If sustained ROSC was not achieved, another cycle of ACLS was administered. Non-ROSC was confirmed when sustained ROSC did not occur after 10 ACLS cycles. EEG and hemodynamic parameters were measured during experiments. Data measured for approximately 3 s right before the defibrillation attempts were analyzed to investigate the relationship between the recovery of carotid blood flow (CBF) and non-invasive EEG parameters, including time- and frequency-domain parameters and entropy indices. We found that time-domain magnitude and entropy measures of EEG correlated with the change of CBF. Further studies are warranted to evaluate these EEG parameters as potential markers of cerebral circulation during CPR.

EEG multifractal analysis correlates with cognitive testing scores and clinical staging in mild cognitive impairment

Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment are increasingly prevalent global health concerns in aging industrialized societies. There are only limited non-invasive biomarkers for the cognitive and functional impairment associated with dementia. Multifractal analysis of EEG has recently been proposed as having the potential to be an improved method of quantitative EEG analysis compared to existing techniques (e.g., spectral analysis). We utilized an existing database of a study of healthy elderly patients (N = 20) who were assessed with cognitive testing (Folstein Mini Mental Status Exam; MMSE) and resting state EEG (4 leads). Each subject’s EEG was separated into two 30 s tracings for training and testing a statistical model against the MMSE scores. We compared multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) against Fourier Transform (FT) in the ability to produce an accurate classification and regression trees estimator for the testing EEG segments. The MF-DFA-based statistical model MMSE estimation strongly correlated with the actual MMSE when applied to the test EEG parameter dataset, whereas the corresponding FT-based model did not. Using a standardized cutoff value for MMSE-based clinical staging, the MF-DFA-based statistical model was both sensitive and specific for clinical staging of both mild Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. MF-DFA shows promise as a method of quantitative EEG analysis to accurately estimate cognition in Alzheimer’s disease.

Features of the HRV, endocrine and metabolic parameters in persons whose immune status is susceptible or resistant to chronic stress

Background. In the previous studies, we compared the individuals who were almost identical to the average value of LF/HF ratio and its dispersion, but with opposite deviations from the norm of immunity. Two profiles of EEG have been created that reflect the differences between the two clusters. The first profile contains the parameters that in stress-sensitive individuals are in the zone of narrowed norm, whereas in stress-resistant individuals they are to some degree elevated, or at least exceed those in stress-sensitive individuals. The second profile contains EEG parameters, each of which in stress-resistant individuals is lower than that of stress-sensitive individuals. The purpose of this study is to clarify the features of the HRV, endocrine and metabolic parameters in persons whose immune status is susceptible or resistant to chronic stress. Materials and Methods. The object of observation were 32 men and 8 women with chronic pyelonephritis in remission. The criterion for inclusion was the magnitude of the sympathico-vagal balance index LF/HF which exceeded the age norm by 0,5 σ. We determined spectral parameters of HRV, plasma levels of principal adaptation Hormones, plasma and daily urine levels of the Electrolytes and Nitrous metabolites as well as plasma Lipoproteines spectrum. Results. Discriminant analysis revealed that Testosterone is the main factor that conditioning the sensitivity of immune status to sympathotonic shift in autonomic regulation in chronic stress. Sensitizing (immunosuppressive) factors are also Ca/K-ratio of plasma and total Cholesterol, instead LD LP Cholesterol, Creatininuria, P/Ca-ratio of urine, spectral power of VLF band HRV as well as entropy of HRV are desensitizing (immunoprotective) factors. Conclusion. The susceptibility or resistance of the immune status to the stress sympathotonic shift of autonomic regulation is conditioned by the combination of EEG, HRV, endocrine and metabolic parameters.

Artifact Removal and of EEG Signal Classification for Brain Computer Interface (BCI) using Back Propagation

A brain-computer interface (BCI) provides a communication passage between the brain and an external stratagem. The Brain and its EEG signals are acquired from the BCI along its control signals and its widely used mechanism in the field of the biomedical fields. In this research work, an artifacts are removed algorithm in the EEG is developed and simulated in the MATLAB 2017a software tool. EEG signals from patients are recoded while recording some of the artificial signals added to it, which are instigated by using eye blinks, eye movement, muscle, and cardiac noise, and also non-biological sources. Using suitable filters these artificial signals can be removed. This paper aims to remove the artificial signals from EEG signals and parameters like mean, standard. Deviation are calculated and compared with other methods such as LAMICA and FASTERs. In the paper, it is also the proposed arrangement of EEG signals for the discovery of typical and anomalous exercises utilizing Wavelet change and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Classifier is considered. Here, the framework utilizes the back proliferation with feed-forward for order which pursues the ANN grouping. Accuracy of the classification is calculated and compared with other states of art publications and found that it is better.

Principles and Statistics of Individualized Live and Static Z-Scores

This report describes and briefly characterizes a method for computing quantitative EEG (qEEG) z-scores based on a modification of the typical methods used for qEEG reporting. In particular, it describes using a sample of EEG from a single individual, and creating a reference database from the individual sample, in contrast to usinga population of individuals as the source data. The goal of this method is to quantify and localize within-subject changes that may arise due to time or various factors. We refer to this approach as “z-builder,” because the z-score reference is constructed or “built” on a per-subject basis in the office or laboratory and is not derived from a reference obtained from an outside source. It is confirmed that z-scores for EEG acquired during a test period can be calculated based on a single previously recorded reference sample from an individual, and that the resulting z-scores obey the expected statistical distribution. Reference data can be calculated using samples in the 1- to 5-minute range, and subsequent static or dynamic z-scores for a test sample can then be computed using this reference data in lieu of a population database. It is confirmed that, in the absence of systematic change in the EEG, z-scores generally fall well within the range of ±1.0, providing a sensitive indicator whenchanges do occur. It is shown that this method has value in assessing individual stability of EEG parameters and for quantifying changes that may occur due to time effects, aging, disorders, medications, or interventions.

The spatial orienting of the focus of attention in working memory makes use of inhibition: Evidence by hemispheric asymmetries in posterior alpha oscillations

Retroactive cuing of information after encoding improves working memory performance. However, there is an ongoing debate on the contribution of target enhancement vs. distractor inhibition attentional sub-processes to this behavioral benefit. We investigated the electrophysiological correlates of retroactive attentional orienting by means of oscillatory EEG parameters. In order to disentangle excitatory and inhibitory attentional processes, the to-be-memorized information was presented in a way that posterior hemispheric asymmetries in oscillatory power could be unambiguously linked to lateral target vs. distractor processing. We found an increase of posterior alpha power (8–14 Hz) contralateral to the position of non-cued working memory content and a decrease of alpha power contralateral to cued positions. These effects were insensitive to the number of cued or non-cued items, supporting their relation to the spatial orienting of attention. Importantly, only the alpha power increase contralateral to non-cued positions differed reliably from the asymmetry in a neutral control condition, highlighting the importance of an inhibitory mechanism for the retroactive focusing of attention. Furthermore, the alpha power asymmetries relative to the positions of cued and non-cued items predicted the individual susceptibility to interference by irrelevant information during working memory retrieval. These findings indicate that the retroactive orienting of the focus of attention can bias the mental representations of non-spatial stimulus features stored in working memory and thereby promote a target-oriented retrieval process.

NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EARLY CAROTID ENDARTERECTOMY IN ATHEROTHROMBOTIC STROKE

INTRODUCTION. At present, the advantages of surgical treatment over conservative methods in patients with hemodynamically significant stenosis of the carotid arteries are actively discussed. Nowadays, the main discussion issues are the time from the beginning of the stroke to the operation and the criteria for selecting patients for surgical intervention. In recent years, neurophysiological methods for studying spontaneous and evoked brain activity, which are able to identify functional disorders that have important prognostic significance, have become the most relevant.OBJECTIVE. To study the dynamics of spectral-coherent parameters of EEG and somatosensory evoked potentials in patients with ischemic atherothrombotic stroke of different severity, who were performed carotid endarterectomy on the heart attack side in an acute period.METHODS AND MATERIALS. We examined 105 patients with ischemic stroke who underwent carotid endarterectomy in the acute period, analyzed the dynamics of spectral, coherent characteristics of EEG and amplitude-latency parameters of somatosensory evoked potentials in the postoperative period.RESULTS. The dynamics of power spectra, intra-hemispheric EEG, latency and amplitude of somatosensory evoked potentials and clinical parameters were compared.CONCLUSION. It is shown that significant suppression of alpha activity power on the side of both hemispheres, decrease of intra-hemispheric coherence and amplitude of N20-P23 on the side of clinically intact hemisphere in the period up to 3 weeks after surgery determines a longer recovery of neurological deficit in the postoperative period.

Speech Features and Electroencephalogram Parameters in 4- to 11-Year-Old Children.

The goal of the study is to investigate a correlation between different levels of speech organization, indicating the physiological processes of maturation of the vocal tract structures and brain regions associated with speech and language, and basic electroencephalogram (EEG) rhythms, reflecting the age-related dynamics of maturation of brain structures in children aged 4–11 years. The complex method of analysis, including EEG registration, clinical and spectral analysis of EEG; dichotic listening, identifying the profile of functional lateral asymmetry (PFLA), and phonemic hearing of the child; recording, linguistic, and acoustic analysis of child speech; and identification of speech characteristics reflecting the formation of its different levels, was used. Two complementary experimental series were conducted: the correlation between EEG parameters, speech features, dichotic listening, the PFLA, and phonemic hearing of the child in the age dynamics of 4–11 years (first); the specificity of EEG patterns in children at different stages of reading skills formation (second). The result of this study showed the correlation between acoustic and linguistic features of child speech and brain activity. The analysis of EEG and acoustic features of child speech revealed the correlation between pitch and pitch range values in spontaneous speech and theta-rhythm intensity in EEG. High values of pitch and its variation in younger children (4–6 years) are related to the intensity of theta rhythm in the EEG pattern, as this rhythm is most expressed in younger children. It was revealed that the alpha rhythm is asymmetrically localized in children with clear pronunciation of words (which determines the intelligibility of their speech) that is typical for 6.5- to 11-year-old children. The formation of reading skills in a child is associated with a change in the characteristics of the alpha rhythm—from irregular, unstable, low frequency, and low amplitude in children at the beginning of reading skills mastering to medium and low amplitude, regular, asymmetrically localized in children reading words and phrases. The specifics of the relation between brain activity and different levels of speech formation at different child’s age periods are discussed.

Lack of a Sense of Threat and Higher Emotional Lability in Patients With Chronic Microvascular Ischemia as Measured by Non-linear EEG Parameters.

We aimed to investigate the non-linear features of the electroencephalogram (EEG) findings in patients with chronic microvascular ischemia (CMI) in order to determine the brain correlates of emotional impairment that could impact the risk of developing acute ischemia. We compared the EEG responses of patients with CMI and age-matched healthy volunteers to non-verbal emotionally charged sounds. We analyzed the EEG data, the psychological assessment of the stimuli, and the results of neuropsychological and behavioral testing. We assessed the (in)stability of the envelope's amplitude by calculating its average frequency and the ratio of its standard deviation to its mean. The non-linear features were lower in the patient group in the resting state. The emotional stimulation induced a decrease in the frequency of the envelope's amplitude in all subjects. Changes in the fractal dimension during stimulation were only seen in the patient group, and they correlated with symptoms of emotional lability. The lower ratio of the alpha-rhythm envelope's standard deviation to its mean in the right hemisphere correlated with a higher sense of threat. The EEG and behavioral correlates of emotional impairment in patients with CMI were found.

Electroencephalography Can Distinguish between Pain and Anaesthetic Intervention in Conscious Lambs Undergoing Castration.

Simple SummaryAustralian sheep undergo painful procedures such as castration as part of routine husbandry practices, usually without any pain relief. Pain can be difficult to measure in prey animals like sheep due to their propensity to hide their pain behavior; and due to the complexity of the impact of a commercial production environment and interaction with handlers on physiological or endocrine measures. Electroencephalography (EEG), the measure of electrical activity in the brain, has been successfully demonstrated under general anaesthesia to objectively measure pain in livestock. However, the practicality of this application in the field is limited. We propose the use of EEG for objectively measuring pain in conscious lambs undergoing castration. Here we reveal that EEG can not only quantify the pain of castration, but also distinguish between anaesthetic interventions. This method has practical advantages that make it a useful measure of pain relief in sheep. Australian sheep routinely undergo painful surgical husbandry procedures without anaesthesia or analgesia. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been shown to be a successful measure of pain in livestock under a general anaesthetic. The aim of this study was to compare this EEG model to that of conscious lambs undergoing castration with and without local anaesthesia. Sixteen merino crossbred ram lambs 6 to 8 weeks of age (13.81kg ± 1.97) were used in the study. Lambs were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 treatment groups: (1) Conscious EEG and surgical castration with no anaesthetic intervention (CON; n = 4); (2) Conscious EEG and surgical castration with pre-operative applied intra-testicular lignocaine injection (CON + LIG; n = 4); (3) surgical castration under minimal anaesthesia (MAM; n = 4); (4) and surgical castration with pre-operative lignocaine injection (2 mL lignocaine hydrochloride 20 mg/mL, under minimal anaesthesia (MAM + LIG; n = 4). Distinct differences in the EEG parameters Ptot, F50 and F95 between pre-and post-castration in conscious lambs were demonstrated in this study (p < 0.01). Further, CON and CON + LIG treatments were distinguishable using F50 and F95 measures (p = 0.02, p = 0.04, respectively). Significant changes in the EEG output of MAM animals were identified pre- to post-castration (p < 0.01). The EEG output of MAM and MAM + LIG were similar. EEG was successful in differentiating lambs treated with pain relief in a conscious state after castration by examining F50 and F95, which may suggest the suitability of conscious EEG pain measurement.

Cariprazine Safety in Adolescents and the Elderly: Analyses of Clinical Study Data.

Schizophrenia is a life-long mental disorder, affecting young adolescents to elderly patients. Antipsychotic treatment is indicated for all patients with schizophrenia, including the very young and old as well. Developmental issues in the young and decline in organ functioning in the elderly could influence reactions to the drug, and require different dosing regimens. The aim of the present article was to examine the safety profile and dosing requirements in adolescent (13 to less than 18) and elderly (65 and above) patients treated with cariprazine. Data from two clinical studies (one pharmacokinetic pediatric study and one phase III clinical trial) on 49 adolescent patients and 17 elderly patients (65 years of age or above) treated with cariprazine was examined. Safety measures included assessment of adverse events (AEs), clinical laboratory values, physical examinations, extrapyramidal symptom (EPS)-, depression-, and suicidality rating scales. Safety parameters were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results indicate that cariprazine was generally safe and well tolerated. Adverse events in the marginal age populations were comparable to the adult population, except for less insomnia in the young and no reports of akathisia in the elderly. Laboratory parameters, vital sign values and EEG parameters were comparable to previously published data in the adult population. In conclusion, cariprazine in the approved adult dose-range of 1.5–6 mg might be a safe treatment option also in adolescent and elderly patients with schizophrenia. Further studies are need to verify these preliminary findings.

Quantitative EEG Changes Correlate With Post-Clamp Ischemia During Carotid Endarterectomy.

EEG monitoring is a critical tool for identifying cerebral ischemia during carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Quantitative EEG can be used to supplement visual EEG review, but which measures best predict post-clamp ischemia is unclear. To determine which quantitative EEG parameters reliably detect intraoperative ischemia during CEA. The authors identified patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy at Columbia University Medical Center from 2007 to 2014 with intraoperative EEG monitoring. Two masked physicians reviewed these EEGs retrospectively and determined whether there was post-clamp ischemia, categorizing patients into (1) ischemic-change and (2) no-ischemic-change groups. The authors then studied the performance of a battery of quantitative EEG measures (alpha, beta, theta, and delta power bands, alpha-delta ratio, beta-delta ratio, amplitude-integrated EEG, and 90% spectral edge frequency) against physician review as the gold standard. Of 118 patients, 15 were included in the ischemic-change group and 103 in the no-ischemic-change group. Ipsilateral post-clamp trough values of all the quantitative EEG measures assessed were significantly decreased for patients in the ischemic-change group. Decreases in alpha, beta, and theta power of 52.1%, 41.6%, and 36.4% or greater, respectively, were most predictive of post-clamp ischemia. Quantitative EEG monitoring during carotid endarterectomy, in addition to visual EEG monitoring, may improve the detection of cerebral ischemia and thus result in fewer perioperative strokes.

Multielectrode array analysis of EEG biomarkers in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a leading known genetic cause of intellectual disability with symptoms that include increased anxiety and social and sensory processing deficits. Recent EEG studies in humans with FXS have identified neural oscillation deficits that include increased resting state gamma power, increased amplitude of auditory evoked potentials, and reduced inter-trial phase coherence of sound-evoked gamma oscillations. Identification of comparable EEG biomarkers in mouse models of FXS could facilitate the pre-clinical to clinical therapeutic pipeline. However, while human EEG studies have involved 128-channel scalp EEG acquisition, no mouse studies have been performed with more than three EEG channels. In the current study, we employed a recently developed 30-channel mouse multielectrode array (MEA) system to record and analyze resting and stimulus-evoked EEG signals in WT vs. Fmr1 KO mice. Using this system, we now report robust MEA-derived phenotypes including higher resting EEG power, altered event-related potentials (ERPs) and reduced inter-trial phase coherence to auditory chirp stimuli in Fmr1 KO mice that are remarkably similar to those reported in humans with FXS. We propose that the MEA system can be used for: (i) derivation of higher-level EEG parameters; (ii) EEG biomarkers for drug testing; and (ii) mechanistic studies of FXS pathophysiology.

Icariin ameliorates the cognitive function in an epilepsy neonatal rat model by blocking the GluR2/ERK I/II pathway.

The present study was performed to evaluate the protective effects of icariin on cognitive function in ahypoxia-induced neonatal epilepsy rat model. Neonatal epilepsy was induced in rat pups on postnatal day (PD) 20 by induction of hypoxia for 15 minutes. Rats were treated intraperitoneally with icariin at 75 mg/kg 1 hour before the induction of hypoxia. The effects of icariin were examined by estimating seizure stage, cognitive function and parameters of electroencephalography (EEG) in this neonatal epilepsy rat model. Parameters of oxidative stress and expression of proteins were examined in the brain tissue of the neonatal epilepsy rat model by histopathological study and Western blotting analysis, respectively. The results of this study suggest that treatment with icariin ameliorates the changes in seizure stage, number of seizures and parameters of EEG in hypoxia-induced neonatal epilepsy rats. Oxidative stress and apoptosis were decreased in the brain tissue of the icariin treatment group compared to the hypoxia group. Moreover, treatment with icariin ameliorated the altered expression of glutamate ionotropic receptor AMPA type subunit 2 (GluR2) and extracellular receptor kinase (ERK I/II) proteins in the brain tissue of hypoxia-induced epilepsy rats. Histopathological study also showed that icariin treatment improved the histopathology of brain tissue of hypoxia-induced epilepsy rats. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that icariin protects against neuronal injury and improves cognitive function in hypoxia-induced neonatal epilepsy rats by modulating the GluR2/ERK I/II pathway.

Wireless EEG in hyper-acute ischemic stroke: correlation between neurophysiological alterations and CTP total hypoperfused volume

Abstract Neuroimaging is crucial for stroke diagnosis and to establish the feasibility of reperfusion therapy, but is not practical for the assessment of continuous evolution of brain ischemia. Electroencephalography (EEG) in the early phase of brain ischemia could be a feasible instrument of functional monitoring. In this context, it would be of great research and clinical interest to assess the relation between EEG parameters and the hypoperfused volume measured by Computed Tomography Perfusion (CTP), as possible real-time surrogate parameters for extent of brain ischemia. This preliminary study aimed at investigating the relation between stroke-related EEG changes, measured on bedside with wireless EEG device, and the extent of hypoperfused volume assessed on CTP during the hyper-acute phase. We studied 12 consecutive ischemic stroke patients who underwent CTP assessment and EEG recording with wireless device within 4.5 hours from symptom onset. Total hypoperfused volume correlated significantly with the delta/alpha power ratio (ρ=0.72; p

The main clinical manifestations of nervous-mental complications in toxoplasmic infection and their non-specific prevention

The article is dedicated to topical problems of prevention of neuropsychiatric complications of socially significant parasitosis – toxoplasmosis in Ukraine. The clinical features of the course of chronic toxoplasmosis, changes in the bioelectrical activity of the brain in patients with toxoplasmosis in the acute stage are described. In order to objectify the assessment of the nature of damage to the nervous system of patients, an electroencephalographic (EEG) study was performed with visual assessment and computer processing of the results. Changes in the infrastructure of correlations between clinical and EEG parameters in patients with chronic toxoplasmosis in the acute stage before treatment are described. The main solutions for non-specific prevention of neuropsychiatric complications in this parasite are presented. The significance of the study of the parameters of bioelectrical activity of the brain in patients with toxoplasmosis, which can be used as auxiliary prognostic criteria, is substantiated. The main measures for the prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis, which is dangerous, especially for newborns and people with immunodeficiency, are outlined. The above is a necessary basis for improving the system of epidemiological monitoring for the spread of toxoplasmosis in Ukraine, and strengthening control by state institutions to prevent parasitological pollution, as well as the creation of a National Program for surveillance of parasitic infestations, to control the spread of parasitosis, and warn of severe consequences for the health of the infected