Chaotic EEG patterns during recall of stressful memory related to panic attack

Chaotic transitions likely emerge in a wide variety of cognitive phenomena and may be linked to specific changes during the development of mental disorders. They represent relatively short periods in the behavior of a system, which are extremely sensitive to very small changes. This increased sensitivity has been suggested to occur also during retrieval of stressful emotional experiences because of their fragmentary, temporally and spatially disorganized character. To test this hypothesis we recorded EEG during retrieval of fearful memories related to panic attack in 7 patients and retrieval of anxiety-related memories in 11 healthy controls. Nonlinear data analysis of EEG records showed a statistically significant increase in degree of chaotic dynamics after retrieval of stressful memories in majority of patients as well as in control subjects. This change correlated with subjective intensity of anxiety induced during the memory retrieval. The data suggest a role of nonlinear changes of neural dynamics in the processing of stressful anxiety-related memories, which may play an important role in the pathophysiology of panic disorder.