Clinical EEG and neuroscience最新文献

BackgroundsIdentifying state biomarkers in major depressive disorder (MDD) is critical for understanding neurobiological underpinnings of disorder. Quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) has emerged as a promising tool for distinguishing stable versus dynamic neural alterations associated with MDD.MethodsThis study included 70 patients diagnosed with MDD and 98 healthy controls (HC). Resting-state qEEG recordings were obtained at three time points: baseline(T0), early treatment(T1), and late treatment(T2). Patients were categorized as responders(≥50%HDRS-21) or non-responders. Changes in absolute band power across delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequencies were compared with HCs. Associations between qEEG activity with HDRS and HARS scores at each time point were calculated.ResultsResponders showed longitudinal reductions in delta power with normalization toward HCs. Gamma activity increased marginally over time. Non-responders exhibited stable and elevated delta and alpha power that persisted across sessions. Decreased fronto-central delta and increased left fronto-central gamma power were also associated with improvement in depression and anxiety.ConclusionMDD Responders demonstrated state-dependent electrophysiological normalization, while non-responders show stable pattern with unchanged depressive state. These findings highlight the utility of qEEG state-markers in monitoring clinical improvement in depression.

Ictal swearing primarily manifests as involuntary cursing detached from social and emotional contexts, representing an exceptionally rare form of speech automatism during epileptic seizures. In this case report, we describe a patient with refractory focal temporal lobe epilepsy associated with bilateral hippocampal sclerosis, where epileptic activity originated from the right hippocampus and led to swearing when the left hippocampus and amygdala were secondarily activated. We aim to analyze the role of the bilateral paralimbic temporal network in ictal swearing and propose potential pathways for the expression of ictal swearing.

Emotion regulation is essential for maintaining daily functioning. Previous studies indicate that individuals with migraine have difficulty identifying emotions and exhibit higher alexithymia scores. The P300 and N400 components, associated with attention and semantic processes, provide insights into neural changes during emotion regulation. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between migraine and emotion regulation by evaluating the P300 and N400 responses obtained during emotion regulation tasks. Participants included individuals with and without a migraine diagnosis. They were shown negative and neutral photographs, followed by instructions to enhance, suppress, or maintain their emotional responses. Afterward, they were asked to evaluate negative or neutral words. During EEG recording, event-related potentials were analyzed, focusing on the P300 and N400 components. P300 responses were recorded from the P3, P4, and Pz electrodes, while N400 responses were collected from FC1, FC2, and Cz electrodes. The migraine group generated a higher P300 response to neutral words compared to the control group. However, for negative words, the control group exhibited a higher P300 response than the migraineurs. According to the data from the FC1 channel, the migraine group produced a higher N400 response to negative words compared to the control group. In the FC2 channel, the migraine group showed a higher N400 response to neutral words than the control group. Although the effect of command did not differ between groups, the migraineurs showed inefficient attention allocation to negative stimuli and alterations in semantic processing of the emotional words depending on the electrode location.

Dacrystic seizure is a rare phenomenon of crying during an epileptic episode. It has an established connection to hypothalamic hamartoma, but was also reported to be associated with frontal and temporal epileptic foci. We present two cases of dacrystic epilepsy. Patient 1 had suffered from magnetic resonance imaging-negative epilepsy that was characterized by both gelastic and dacrystic seizures; stereo-encephalography showed onset in the anterior cingulate/Brodmann area 8 with rapid prefrontal and orbitofrontal propagation, leading to crying onset. Patient 2 had dacrystic seizures arising from a temporal lobe lesion with spreading to the orbitofrontal cortex. Both patients became seizure-free following resection targeting these networks. These cases represent intracranial correlates of dacrystic seizures occurring outside the context of hypothalamic hamartoma and suggest a central contribution of the anterior cingulate and/or orbitofrontal cortices in their generation.

The purpose of this study was to assess the change in frequency and distribution of focal interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) as measured on scalp EEG after anti-seizure medications (ASMs) were weaned in the epilepsy monitoring unit. We retrospectively reviewed the EEG of patients with focal epilepsy on a single ASM. A two-hour EEG epoch was selected at sleep onset during the first day of admission and defined as the high-ASM epoch. This was compared to a two-hour low-ASM epoch at sleep onset after the ASM was weaned, at least 6 h before or after a seizure. IEDs were manually counted and characterized. A total of 115 patients were included. For those on levetiracetam, there was a significant increase in IED quantity when comparing the high-ASM to the low-ASM epoch (mean 40.6 to 71.4, p < 0.001). For those on sodium channel blockers, there was a non-significant trend towards a decrease in IED quantity as the ASM dose was decreased (p = 0.065). There was no statistically significant change found for other individual ASMs. For the cohort, 12 patients had IED observed only on the low-ASM epoch (which were not present on the high-ASM epoch), 6 of which were treated with levetiracetam. In summary, our findings showed weaning of levetiracetam was associated with a significant increase in IEDs whereas other ASMs were not. Some populations of IEDs were only seen after ASMs were weaned. These findings suggest that different ASMs may have unique effects on IEDs when weaned.

Acceptance, nonjudgmental awareness of the present-moment experiences, is a central component of mindfulness. This study used a pretest-posttest design to examine whether a brief mindfulness intervention (MI) could increase self-reported acceptance and reduce affective reactivity to errors, as indexed by error-related negativity (ERN), error positivity (Pe), and post-error slowing (PES). Meditation-naïve participants (n = 121, ages 18-31 years, 69% female) were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness group, which engaged in 10 min of guided mindful breathing, or a control group, which listened to a Ted talk on green living. Both groups completed a Flanker task before and after the intervention to elicit errors under time pressure. Results showed that participants in the mindfulness group reported greater acceptance following the intervention; however, no corresponding changes were observed in ERN or PES. Instead, both groups showed practice effects, with faster reaction times and larger Pe amplitudes reflecting increased response certainty. These findings suggest that while a brief MI may enhance subjective acceptance, it may not be sufficient to alter neural or behavioral markers of affective error reactivity. Longer or more intensive mindfulness training may be required to influence these deeper cognitive and emotional processes.

ObjectiveAlzheimer's disease (AD) often presents visual hallucinations (VH) in late stages. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are noninvasive electrophysiological measures that reflect the functional integrity of the visual conduction pathway. This study uses visual evoked potentials (VEP) to assess visual pathway dysfunction and evaluates VEP as a biomarker for disease progression.MethodsA retrospective study of 112 AD patients (2016-2024) was conducted, categorizing individuals into VH and non-VH groups based on the presence of visual hallucinations. VEP testing assessed P100 latency and amplitude. Baseline characteristics and VEP parameters were compared between groups, and correlations with disease duration were analyzed.ResultsNo significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of age, sex, years of education, homocysteine (HCY) levels, or Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores (p > 0.05). However, disease duration was significantly longer in the VH group than in the non-VH group (p = 0.00). VEP findings revealed a significantly prolonged P100 latency (p = 0.01) and reduced P100 amplitude (p = 0.00) in the VH group. Correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between P100 latency and disease duration (r = 0.21, p = 0.03) and a negative correlation between P100 amplitude and disease duration (r = -0.34, p = 0.00), suggesting progressive impairment of the visual conduction pathway over the course of the disease.ConclusionAD patients with visual hallucinations exhibit more severe impairments in the integrity of the visual conduction pathway than those without hallucinations, as evidenced by prolonged P100 latency and decreased amplitude. These changes are closely associated with disease duration.

ObjectiveSince the pioneering work of Hans Berger in 1929 introducing the utility of human electroencephanlography (EEG) in psychiatry, a considerable amount of work has been devoted to the identification of pathophysiological mechanisms of mental diseases. However, how electrophysiology may be useful in clinical psychiatric settings is still matter of debate. Here we provide a summary of current emerging data and perspectives regarding the promising utility of various EEG tools in the treatment of mental diseases.Methods and ResultsIn this report we focus on new insights reported through the use of various EEG tools (quantitative EEG, QEEG; cognitive event-related potentials, ERPs) and some new EEG-based methods (Mobile Brain/Body Imaging or Artificial Intelligence algorithms) suggesting that their use might be helpful at the clinical level in the management of various forms of mental diseases.ConclusionGiven the encouraging results highlighting how these electrophysiological tools may be used with regard to mental disorders, continued efforts to better implement these EEG tools into psychiatric clinical settings remains one of the most pressing challenges for neurophysiologists.

BackgroundNeurological complications during Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can result in long-term cognitive deficits. This exploratory study aimed to determine the association between continuous EEG (cEEG) findings and neurological outcome in adult patients undergoing ECMO,MethodsThis retrospective cohort study analyzed EEG characteristics, and clinical outcomes in adult ECMO patients at a tertiary care center. We included all adult ECMO patients from January 1, 2015, to July 31, 2019 including patients in whom cEEG was initiated ASAP with ECMO orders. EEG data were evaluated for association with clinical outcome. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) scale at discharge and 6 months.ResultsAmong 329 ECMO encounters, 214 (65%) included cEEG monitoring. Low EEG voltage was associated with poor outcome (CPC, 52.4% vs 64% p = 0.001). EEG reactivity was associated with outcome at 6 months (CPC, 54.8% reactive and good outcome vs 67% unreactive and poor outcomes p = 0.005). The presence of predominant background frequency, normal voltage, was associated with good outcome while higher Mayo EEG grade with poor outcomes. In the limited subset of patients with Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) Score, no significant differences were noted between patients with different Mayo EEG grades, EEG reactivity, or background changes. Higher SOFA scores were associated with poor outcomes.ConclusionscEEG monitoring may provide prognostic information for adult ECMO patients. It remains unclear if the EEG findings are solely reflective of underlying severity of illness or not.

This study examined the relationship between alpha activity fluctuations in resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores. A novel approach was introduced using second-order derivatives of the alpha envelope to identify potential functional biomarkers for depression and anxiety conditions. Two 30-s eyes-closed epochs of 64-channel EEG data were collected from open dataset of 113 college-aged participants with the BDI and STAI scores. Metrics including mean positive (Ap) and negative (An) second-order derivatives, the Ap-An ratio, root mean square (RMS), and peak frequency of the alpha envelope were extracted. Correlations between these EEG metrics and scores on the BDI and STAI were analyzed. BDI (Spearman's rank correlation, rs = 0.253-0.304,) and STAI (rs = 0.222-0.339) scores showed significant but weak positive correlations with the Ap-An ratio, in the left frontal regions (P < .05, FDR-corrected). No significant correlation was found between envelope amplitude and either score. The Ap-An ratio at the frontal, temporal, and central electrodes, and peak alpha frequency at the electrodes including the parietal and occipital regions, were significantly higher in participants with BDI scores above 10 compared to those with scores of 10 or below (P < .05, FDR, Mann-Whitney U test). These findings suggest that the second-order derivatives of alpha envelope may serve as functional biomarkers for psychiatric disorders, differently from the frequency and amplitude. Further research is needed to confirm whether these EEG features reflect regional neural activity, such as excitatory and inhibitory activities.