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Quantitative electroencephalogram measures in adult obstructive sleep apnea - Potential biomarkers of
Angela L D'Rozario1, Nathan E Cross2, Andrew Vakulin3
1CIRUS Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Brain and Mind Centre and Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Australia; Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital & Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Abstract:
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) results in significantly impaired cognitive functioning and increased daytime sleepiness in some patients leading to increased risk of motor vehicle and workplace accidents and reduced productivity. Clinicians often face difficulty in identifying which patients are at risk of neurobehavioural dysfunction due to wide inter-individual variability, and disparity between symptoms and conventional metrics of disease severity such as the apnea hypopnea index. Quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG) measures are determinants of awake neurobehavioural function in healthy subjects. However, the potential value of quantitative EEG (qEEG) measurements as biomarkers of neurobehavioural function in patients with OSA has not been examined. This review summarises the existing literature examining qEEG in OSA patients including changes in brain activity during wake and sleep states, in relation to daytime sleepiness, cognitive impairment and OSA treatment. It will speculate on the mechanisms which may underlie changes in EEG activity and discuss the potential utility of qEEG as a clinically useful predictor of neurobehavioural function in OSA.