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Voluntary breath holding affects spontaneous brain activity measured by magnetoencephalography
1Department of Medical Physics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Spontaneous brain activity was measured by multichannel magnetoencephalography (MEG) during voluntary breath holds. Significant changes in the activity are limited to the alpha rhythm: 0.25 Hz frequency increase and narrowing of the peak. The area of alpha activity shifts slightly toward (fronto-) temporal. The topography of other rhythms is unaffected by breath holding. Electroencephalographic (EEG; 36 channels maximal) recordings generally made simultaneously with the MEG recordings show similar effects. However, EEG was inadequate to reveal the small topographic differences. Systemic hypercapnia caused by a long breath hold is unlikely to play an important role in producing the observed effects.
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