V. Swarnkar and U.R. Abeyratne (Australia)
Electroencephalogram, electroencephalogram arousals, inter-hemispheric asynchrony.
In this paper, we test the novel hypothesis that the electroencephalogram arousals (EEGA) are associated with functional asymmetries of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, as evident through Inter Hemispheric Asynchrony (IHA) of surface EEG, using statistical analysis. We measured EEG data (using electrodes A1/C2 and A2/C3 of the International 10/20 System) from 22 patients. Spectral correlation coefficients (R) were computed between EEG data from the two hemispheres for each frequency band of interest. Results indicated that IHA varies with two types of sleep, NREM and REM. It tends to intensify with the occurrence of EEGA. Statistical analysis of the results shows high significance difference between the means of the spectral correlation coefficient for normal sleep and sleep affected by arousal events for both type of sleep, with P < 0.001. A negative relationship (r=-0.75) was established between the mean spectral correlation coefficient for beta band during NREM sleep and arousal index (AI). These results provide a basis for novel insights into the functional asymmetries of brain regions associated with EEG arousals during sleep apnoea.
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