EEG complexity drug-induced changes in disorders of consciousness: a preliminary report

G Valenza; M C Carboncini; A Virgillito; I Creatini; L Bonfiglio; B Rossi; A Lanatà; E P Scilingo

doi:10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6090633

EEG complexity drug-induced changes in disorders of consciousness: a preliminary report

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2011:2011:3724-7. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6090633.

Authors

G Valenza¹, M C Carboncini, A Virgillito, I Creatini, L Bonfiglio, B Rossi, A Lanatà, E P Scilingo

Affiliation

¹ Department of Information Engineering and Interdepartmental Research Center E Piaggio, Faculty of Engineering, University of Pisa, Via G Caruso 16, 56122 Pisa, Italy. gaetano.valenza@iet.unipi.it

PMID: 22255149
DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6090633

Abstract

The goal of this work is to investigate EEG (ElectroEncephaloGram) dynamics after drug intake in patients being in states of Disorders Of Consciousness (DOC) after brain injury. Four patients were involved in the study. All the patients exhibit cerebral lesions located in the same anatomical region. Two nonlinear indexes, such as Lempel-Ziv Complexity (LZC) and Approximate Entropy (ApEn), along with power spectra, were calculated for EEG signals gathered from electrodes placed on both injured and non-injured regions. Experimental results show that after drug administration the two nonlinear indexes calculated from EEG taken from injured regions increase (p < 0.001) while power spectra decrease or remain unchanged. These results do not pretend to draw conclusions about consciousness level either suggest promising therapeutical treatments, but represent only an experimental evidence about the change in the EEG complexity after drug administration.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain Injuries / complications*
Consciousness Disorders / diagnosis*
Consciousness Disorders / drug therapy*
Consciousness Disorders / etiology
Electroencephalography*
Humans