Monitoring Migraine Cycle Dynamics with an Easy-to-Use Electrophysiological Marker—A Pilot Study

Migraine attacks can cause significant discomfort and reduced functioning for days at a time, including the pre-ictal and post-ictal periods. During the inter-ictsal period, however, migraineurs seem to function normally. It is puzzling, therefore, that event-related potentials of migraine patients often differ in the asymptomatic and inter-ictal period. Part of the electrophysiological dynamics demonstrated in the migraine cycle are attention related. In this pilot study we evaluated an easy-to-use new marker, the Brain Engagement Index (BEI), for attention monitoring during the migraine cycle. We sampled 12 migraine patients for 20 days within one calendar month. Each session consisted of subjects’ reports of stress level and migraine-related symptoms, and a 5 min EEG recording, with a 2-electrode EEG device, during an auditory oddball task. The first minute of the EEG sample was analyzed. Repetitive samples were also obtained from 10 healthy controls. The brain engagement index increased significantly during the pre-ictal (p ≈ 0.001) and the ictal (p ≈ 0.020) periods compared with the inter-ictal period. No difference was observed between the pre-ictal and ictal periods. Control subjects demonstrated intermediate Brain Engagement Index values, that is, higher than inter-ictal, yet lower than pre-ictal. Our preliminary results demonstrate the potential advantage of the use of a simple EEG system for improved prediction of migraine attacks. Further study is required to evaluate the efficacy of the Brain Engagement Index in monitoring the migraine cycle and the possible effects of interventions.

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A Preliminary Study of P200 in First-episode Patients, their Relatives and Healthy Controls: Search of New Endophenotypes

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(09)70586-3 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 (S1) ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

C. Silveira ◽

F. Santos ◽

F. Barbosa ◽

A. Pedro ◽

A. Palha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Event Related Potentials ◽

First Episode ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Significant Group ◽

Auditory Oddball ◽

First Degree Relatives ◽

Confounding Variables ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Post Hoc ◽

The Relationship

Background/Objective:Despite the well established genetic basis of schizophrenia, the relationship between genes and the disorder itself is still elusive. Individual endophenotypes, which reduce the complexity of genetic analyses, allow statistical approaches with quantitative trait methodologies. P200 abnormalities of event-related potentials have been reported in schizophrenia with conflicting results. The present study aims to characterize the P200 in first-episode patients and to compare it with that of first-degree relatives and controls.Methods:ERPs were recorded at 19 sites with an auditory oddball for 21 first-episode patients with schizophrenia (mean age=25.14; SD=6.20), 41 of their first degree relatives (mean age=47.65; SD=15.53) and 19 healthy controls (mean age=26.32; SD=7.16). Potentials were averaged for frequent stimuli and P200 amplitude and latency measures were obtained.Results:Analysis of midline electrodes revealed significant group effects for P200 peak amplitudes (F(2, 78)=3.315, p=.042), but not for peak latencies. Post-hoc analyses revealed that patients with schizophrenia present significantly lower P200 amplitudes (M=2.466; SD=1.564) than controls (M=5.037; SD=2.500) at Pz (T(38)=3.851, p=.003). No other significant differences were found.Conclusion:The results obtained do not straight-forwardly support the P200 peak amplitude nor peak latency as an endophenotype of schizophrenia. However, the trends of our results may suggest that the P200 amplitudes of relatives may present intermediate values between healthy controls (with higher amplitudes) and patients (with lower amplitudes). Further statistical analyses will be required in order to disentangle the effects of possible confounding variables.

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Event related potentials from closed head injury patients in an auditory "oddball" task: evidence of dysfunction in stimulus categorisation.

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry ◽

10.1136/jnnp.51.5.691 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 51 (5) ◽

pp. 691-698 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

M D Rugg ◽

C P Cowan ◽

M E Nagy ◽

A D Milner ◽

I Jacobson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Head Injury ◽

Closed Head Injury ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Auditory Oddball ◽

Oddball Task ◽

Closed Head ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Auditory Oddball Task

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A Preliminary Study of p200 in First-episode Patients, their Relatives and Healthy Controls: Search of New Endophenotypes

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(09)71345-8 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 (S1) ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

C. Silveira ◽

F. Santos ◽

F. Barbosa ◽

A. Pedro ◽

A. Palha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Event Related Potentials ◽

First Episode ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Significant Group ◽

Auditory Oddball ◽

First Degree Relatives ◽

Confounding Variables ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Post Hoc ◽

The Relationship

Background/Objective:Despite the well established genetic basis of schizophrenia, the relationship between genes and the disorder itself is still elusive. Individual endophenotypes, which reduce the complexity of genetic analyses, allow statistical approaches with quantitative trait methodologies. P200 abnormalities of event-related potentials have been reported in schizophrenia with conflicting results. the present study aims to characterize the P200 in first-episode patients and to compare it with that of first-degree relatives and controls.Methods:ERPs were recorded at 19 sites with an auditory oddball for 21 first-episode patients with schizophrenia (mean age=25.14; SD=6.20), 41 of their first degree relatives (mean age=47.65; SD=15.53) and 19 healthy controls (mean age=26.32; SD=7.16). Potentials were averaged for frequent stimuli and P200 amplitude and latency measures were obtained.Results:Analysis of midline electrodes revealed significant group effects for P200 peak amplitudes (F(2, 78)=3.315, p=.042), but not for peak latencies. Post-hoc analyses revealed that patients with schizophrenia present significantly lower P200 amplitudes (M=2.466; SD=1.564) than controls (M=5.037; SD=2.500) at Pz (T(38)=3.851, p=.003). No other significant differences were found.Conclusion:The results obtained do not straight-forwardly support the P200 peak amplitude nor peak latency as an endophenotype of schizophrenia. However, the trends of our results may suggest that the P200 amplitudes of relatives may present intermediate values between healthy controls (with higher amplitudes) and patients (with lower amplitudes). Further statistical analyses will be required in order to disentangle the effects of possible confounding variables.

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Late Positive Event-Related Potentials after Commissural Section in Humans

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.1990.2.3.258 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 258-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Marta Kutas ◽

Steven A. Hillyard ◽

Bruce T. Volpe ◽

Michael S. Gazzaniga

Keyword(s):

Corpus Callosum ◽

Left Hemisphere ◽

Visual Fields ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Auditory Oddball ◽

Oddball Task ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Individual ◽

The Right ◽

Auditory Oddball Task

The lateral distribution of the P300 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) was studied in five epileptic patients whose corpus callosum had been surgically sectioned and in seven neurologically intact controls. The P300 was elicited in an auditory “oddball” task using high- and low-pitched tones and in a visual oddball task in which target words were presented either to the left or right visual fields, or to both fields simultaneously. Commissurotomy altered the normal pattern of bilaterally symmetrical P300 waves over the left and right hemispheres, but in a different manner for auditory and visual stimuli. The auditory P3 to binaural tones was larger in amplitude over the right than the left hemisphere for the patients. In the visual task, the laterality of the P300 varied with the visual field of the target presentation. Left field targets elicited much larger P300 amplitudes over the right than the left hemisphere, as did bilateral targets. In contrast, right field targets triggered P300 waves of about the same amplitude over the two hemispheres. The overall amplitude of the P300 to simultaneous bilateral targets was less than the sum of the individual P300 amplitudes produced in response to the unilateral right and left field targets. These shifts in P300 laterality argue against the view that the P300 is an index of diffuse arousal or activation that is triggered in both hemispheres simultaneously irrespective of which hemisphere processes the target information. The results further demonstrate that the P300 does not depend for its production on interhemispheric comparisons of information mediated by the corpus callosum, as suggested recently by Knight et al. (1989).

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How does the brain process mild versus strong violations in music? A pilot study using event-related potentials

2017 22nd International Conference on Digital Signal Processing (DSP) ◽

10.1109/icdsp.2017.8096146 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marie-Eve Joret ◽

Marijn van Vliet ◽

Flavio Camarrone ◽

Marc M. Van Hulle

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Brain Process ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Brain

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Effects of chronic antipsychotic treatment on neurophysiological correlates of the auditory oddball task in schizophrenia: A preliminary report from a multicentre study

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.2124 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S192-S192

Author(s):

G. Di Lorenzo ◽

A. Mucci ◽

A. Vignapiano ◽

G. Giordano ◽

F. Ferrentino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brain Function ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Chronic Administration ◽

P300 Amplitude ◽

P300 Latency ◽

Antipsychotic Treatment ◽

Auditory Oddball ◽

Oddball Task ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Auditory Oddball Task

IntroductionThe effects of chronic antipsychotic administration on the human brain are debated. In particular, first-generation (FGAs) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) seem to have different impacts on brain function and structure in subjects with schizophrenia. Few studies have investigated the effect of chronic administration of FGAs and SGAs on indices of brain function, such as event-related potentials (ERP) or neuropsychological performance.ObjectivesWithin the Italian Network for Research on Psychoses study, subjects stabilized on FGAs or SGAs were compared on P300, an ERP component, thought to reflect attention, working memory and context integration and on neurocognitive indices.MethodsERPs were recorded in 110 chronic, stabilized patients with Schizophrenia (28 used FGAs) during a standard auditory oddball task. P300 latency and amplitude were assessed at Pz channel. MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used for cognitive assessment.ResultsCompared with the SGAs group, patients on FGAs showed significant increased P300 latency (P = 0.003; Cohen's d = 0.67) and significant decreased P300 amplitudes (P = 0.023; Cohen's d = 0.38). The two groups did not differ on psychopathology and MCCB scores. Multiple linear regressions revealed that “FGAs vs. SGAs” (β = 0.298, P = 0.002) and MCCB neurocognitive composite T-score (β = –0.273, P = 0.004) were independent predictors of P300 latency, whereas only age (β = –0.220, P = 0.027) was an independent predictor of P300 amplitude.ConclusionsFGAs seem to affect the functional brain activity more than SGAs, particularly slowing cortical processing. Our results suggest that discrepant findings concerning P300 latency in schizophrenia might be related to the type of antipsychotic treatment used. Longitudinal studies are needed to further address this issue.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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