EEG low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) in Huntington's disease.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Electrophysiology

Background:

• Huntington's disease (HD) is associated with abnormal electroencephalography (EEG) findings.
• Quantitative EEG analysis using LORETA has not been extensively studied in HD progression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively compare EEGs of HD patients and controls using LORETA.
• To assess EEG LORETA's sensitivity in tracking HD progression.
• To correlate cognitive and motor impairments with neurophysiological variables in HD.

Main Methods:

• Vigilance-controlled EEG (V-EEG) recorded in 55 HD patients and 55 controls.
• Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) applied for power spectra and intracortical tomography in seven frequency bands.
• Spearman rank correlations between V-EEG and psychometric data.

Main Results:

• Significant differences (p < 0.01) in EEG LORETA between HD patients and controls.
• Decreased theta, alpha, and beta power observed from early to late HD stages.
• Increased delta power in advanced HD, particularly in the right orbitofrontal cortex.
• Reduced alpha and theta power correlated with cognitive and motor decline.

Conclusions:

• EEG LORETA is sensitive for detecting progressive electrophysiological changes in HD.
• Reduced alpha power may serve as a trait marker for HD.
• Increased prefrontal delta power indicates disease worsening.
• Motor and cognitive functions decline in parallel with decreased alpha and theta power.