Functional clustering in EEG photic and auditory driving in schizophrenia

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of photic and auditory stimuli on brain functions in schizophrenics by investigating the functional cluster (FC) of EEGs. We recorded EEGs using 16 electrodes on 10 schizophrenic patients and on 10 normal controls during photic and auditory stimuli. We estimated FC would characterize the strongly interactive brain regions among many brain regions. FC refers to the brain regions that interact much more strongly among themselves than with the rest of the brain. Brain regions that belong to the same cluster are therefore all functionally involved while, presumably, the regions that belong to separate clusters are functionally unrelated. When photic and auditory stimuli are applied, the schizophrenic patients have a very similar cluster composed of the right temporal and occipital regions for both conditions, whereas the normal controls show the normally driven information stream from the posterior areas to the prefrontal cortex. Our findings may suggest that in schizophrenics the right temporal and occipital regions strongly interact with neuronal activities not only in the resting condition but also during the stimulation condition. In addition, this strong interaction supports the abnormal brain functional connectivity and the dysfunction of the cortical structure during photic and auditory stimuli. Our study shows the existence and different pattern of FCs for normal controls and schizophrenics. Thus, FC analysis would be a potential tool to investigate the simultaneous neuronal activity of human EEGs.