Transient Increases in Alpha Power Relative to Healthy Reference Ranges in Awake Piglets After Repeated Rapid Head...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Traumatic Brain Injury Research
• Pediatric Sports Medicine

Background:

• Sports-related concussions are a significant cause of cognitive issues and physical symptoms in young individuals.
• While most concussion symptoms resolve within a week, cognitive deficits can persist.
• Understanding acute changes in brain activity post-concussion is crucial for prognosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the acute effects of single and repeated head rotations on resting-state electroencephalography (rs-EEG) in a swine model.
• To establish reference ranges for rs-EEG in healthy piglets.
• To analyze the temporal changes in rs-EEG within 7 days post-injury.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an established swine model of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• Recorded one-minute rs-EEG in awake piglets before and at 1, 4, and 7 days post-injury.
• Analyzed total and relative power in alpha, beta, delta, and theta frequency bands using Fourier transformation.

Main Results:

• Healthy piglets exhibited consistent rs-EEG measures across days.
• A significant, transient increase in relative alpha power was observed on day 1 after repeated head rotations.
• This increase exceeded healthy reference ranges in frontal and left temporal regions.

Conclusions:

• Acute rs-EEG measurements show transient alterations in brain activity following head trauma.
• Resting-state EEG may serve as a potential biomarker for detecting early concussion-related changes.
• Further research with extended study durations is needed to correlate acute EEG findings with clinical outcomes.