[FREQUENCY-TEMPORAL STRUCTURE OF HUMAN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM IN THE CONDITION OF ARTIFICIAL HYPOGRAVITY: DRY IMMERSION...

Frequency-temporal electroencephalogram (EEG) reactions to hypogravity were studied in 7 male subjects at the age of 20 to 27 years. The experiment was conducted using dry immersion (DI) as the best known method of simulating the space microgravity effects on the Earth. This hypogravity model reproduces hypokinesia, i.e. the weight-bearing and mechanic load removal, which is typical of microgravity. EEG was recorded by Neuroscan-2 (Compumedics) before the experiment (baseline data) and at the end of day 2 in DI. Comparative analysis of the EEG frequency-temporal structure was performed with the use of 2 techniques: Fourier transform and modified wavelet analysis. The Fourier transform elicited that after 2 days in DI the main shifts occurring to the EEG spectral composition are a decline in the alpha power and a slight though reliable growth of theta power. Similar frequency shifts were detected in the same records analyzed using the wavelet transform. According to wavelet analysis, during DI shifts in EEG frequency spectrum are accompanied by frequency desorganization of the EEG dominant rhythm and gross impairment of total stability of the electrical activity with time. Wavelet transform provides an opportunity to quantify changes in the frequency-temporal structure of the electrical activity of the brain. Quantitative evidence of frequency desorganization and temporal instability of EEG wavelet spectrograms may be the key to the understanding of mechanisms that drive functional disorders in the brain cortex in the conditions of hypogravity.