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VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation
Published on: March 25, 2011
Neurophysiological abnormalities of attentional deficits in Wilson's disease using visual oddball paradigm
Chan Zhang1, Rukai Chen2, Naiqing Cai2
1Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan, China; Henan Neurological Function Detection and Regulation Center, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan, China.
Background:
Attention deficits in Wilson's disease (WD) patients are not well understood, and their neural mechanisms, as revealed by electrophysiology, remain unclear.
Objectives:
To reveal specific neurophysiological alterations during attention-mediated processing in WD using event-related potentials (ERPs).
Methods:
Twenty WD patients and eighteen healthy controls performed a visual oddball task. P3b/P3a components, time-frequency (Morlet wavelets), and graph-based network metrics was analyzed. ERPs measures were correlated with clinical scales and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scores.
Results:
WD showed delayed reaction times and prolonged P3b and P3a latencies, with reduced P3b amplitude. Theta band (4-8 Hz) power was significantly decreased in WD. P300 latencies were positively correlated with UWDRS-T/N scores and MRI scores. Theta band functional connections (P = 0.043) and graph theoretic analyses (strength, clustering, small-worldness, P < 0.0001) were lower across a fronto-parieto-limbic-cerebellar subnet in WD.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate delayed neural responses and disrupted interregional communication during attention tasks in WD.
Significance:
These disrupted theta band network dynamics underlie the P300 delay, providing clinically actionable biomarkers for early diagnosis and guiding therapies such as adaptive deep brain stimulation and closed loop neuromodulation.
