Quantitative electroencephalography reveals different physiological profiles between benign and remitting-relapsing...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Clinical Neurology

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis may benefit from physiological markers.
• Quantified electroencephalography (QEEG) during cognitive tasks can reveal brain activity changes.
• Spectral content modulations in EEG are of interest in remitting-relapsing MS (RRMS) and benign MS (BMS).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate EEG spectral modulations during a visuo-spatial task in RRMS and BMS patients.
• To identify potential physiological markers for MS subtypes using QEEG.
• To compare QEEG profiles between RRMS, BMS, and control groups.

Main Methods:

• QEEG analysis of delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands using Fast-Fourier-Transformation (FFT).
• Z-transformation applied to observe individual spectral modulation profiles.
• Correlation analysis between QEEG values and clinical/cognitive variables.

Main Results:

• 42% of RRMS patients showed significant increases in beta-2 and gamma bands compared to controls.
• These alterations were localized to specific brain regions (anterior right hemisphere, bilateral posterior scalp).
• No significant differences were observed in BMS patients or correlations with clinical variables.

Conclusions:

• High EEG spectrum changes (beta-2, gamma) during attentional processing may indicate physiological alterations in MS patients.
• These spectral patterns could represent compensatory mechanisms or cortical excitatory states specific to RRMS.
• QEEG during cognitive tasks reveals changes not detected by spontaneous EEG analysis.