A Case Study in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An Innovative Neurofeedback-Based Approach

In research about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) there is growing interest in evaluating cortical activation and using neurofeedback in interventions. This paper presents a case study using monopolar electroencephalogram recording (brain mapping known as MiniQ) for subsequent use in an intervention with neurofeedback for a 10-year-old girl presenting predominantly inattentive ADHD. A total of 75 training sessions were performed, and brain wave activity was assessed before and after the intervention. The results indicated post-treatment benefits in the beta wave (related to a higher level of concentration) and in the theta/beta ratio, but not in the theta wave (related to higher levels of drowsiness and distraction). These instruments may be beneficial in the evaluation and treatment of ADHD.

Honeybee Brain Oscillations Are Generated by Microtubules. The Concept of a Brain Central Oscillator

Microtubules (MTs) are important structures of the cytoskeleton in neurons. Mammalian brain MTs act as biomolecular transistors that generate highly synchronous electrical oscillations. However, their role in brain function is largely unknown. To gain insight into the MT electrical oscillatory activity of the brain, we turned to the honeybee (Apis mellifera) as a useful model to isolate brains and MTs. The patch clamp technique was applied to MT sheets of purified honeybee brain MTs. High resistance seal patches showed electrical oscillations that linearly depended on the holding potential between ± 200 mV and had an average conductance in the order of ~9 nS. To place these oscillations in the context of the brain, we also explored local field potential (LFP) recordings from the Triton X-permeabilized whole honeybee brain unmasking spontaneous oscillations after but not before tissue permeabilization. Frequency domain spectral analysis of time records indicated at least two major peaks at approximately ~38 Hz and ~93 Hz in both preparations. The present data provide evidence that MT electrical oscillations are a novel signaling mechanism implicated in brain wave activity observed in the insect brain.

Deep Learning on Game Addiction Detection Based on Electroencephalogram

Playing games for too long can be addictive. Based on a recent study by Brand et al, adolescents are considered more vulnerable than adults to game addiction. The activity of playing games produces a wave in the brain, namely beta waves where the person is in a focused state. Brain wave activity can be measured and captured using an Electroencephalogram (EEG). Recording brain wave activity naturally requires a prominent and constant brain activity such as when concentrating while playing a game. This study aims to detect game addiction in late adolescence by applying Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Recording of brain waves was carried out three times for each respondent with a stimulus to play three different games, namely games included in the easy, medium, and hard categories with a consecutive taking time of 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 30 minutes. Data acquisition results are feature extraction using Fast Fourier Transform to get the average signal for each respondent. Based on the research conducted, obtained an accuracy of 86% with a loss of 0.2771 where the smaller the loss value, the better the CNN model built. The test results on the model produce an overall accuracy of 88% with misclassification in 1 data. The CNN model built is good enough for the detection of game addiction in late adolescence.

Zebrafish as a tool in the study of sleep and memory-related disorders

: Sleep is an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon, being an essential biological necessity for the learning process and memory consolidation. The brain displays two types of electrical activity during sleep: slow-wave activity or non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and desynchronized brain wave activity or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. There are many theories about “Why we need to sleep?” among them the synaptic homeostasis. This theory proposes that the role of sleep is the restoration of synaptic homeostasis, which is destabilized by synaptic strengthening triggered by learning during waking and by synaptogenesis during development. Sleep diminishes the plasticity load on neurons and other cells to normalize synaptic strength. In contrast, it re-establishes neuronal selectivity and the ability to learn, leading to the consolidation and integration of memories. The use of zebrafish as a tool to assess sleep and its disorders is growing, although sleep in this animal is not yet divided, for example, into REM and NREM states. However, zebrafish are known to have a regulated daytime circadian rhythm. Their sleep state is characterized by periods of inactivity accompanied by an increase in arousal threshold, preference for resting place, and the “rebound sleep effect” phenomenon, which causes an increased slow-wave activity after a forced waking period. In addition, drugs known to modulate sleep, such as melatonin, nootropics, and nicotine, have been tested in zebrafish. In this review, we discuss the use of zebrafish as a model to investigate sleep mechanisms and their regulation, demonstrating this species as a promising model for sleep research.

Brain Wave Patterns in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Case-Control Study

Introduction: Research evidence indicates that maladaptive reorganization of the brain plays a critical role in amplifying pain experiences and pain chronification; there is, however, no clear evidence of change in brain wave activity among patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). The objective of this study was to assess brain wave activity in patients with CLBP, compared to healthy controls. Methods: Twenty-five patients with CLBP and twenty-four healthy controls participated in the study. A quantitative Electroencephalography device was used to assess brain wave activity in eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions (EO and EC). The regional absolute and relative power of brain waves were compared between the groups. Results: Our results showed significant increases in the absolute power of theta (F=5.905, p=0.019), alpha (F=5.404, p=0.024) waves in patients with CLBP compared to healthy subjects in both EC and EO condition. Patients with CLBP showed a reduced delta absolute power in the frontal region (F=5.852, p=0.019) and augmented delta absolute power in the central region (F=5.597, p=0.022) in the EO condition. An increased delta absolute power was observed in the frontal (F=7.563 p=0.008), central (F=10.430, p=0.002) and parietal (F=4.596, p=0.037) regions in patients with CLBP compared to the healthy subjects in the EC condition. In the EC condition, significant increases in theta relative power (F=4.680, p=0.036) in the parietal region was also found in patients with CLBP. Conclusion: Increased absolute power of brain waves in people with CLBP may indicate cortical overactivity and changes in pain processing mechanism in these patients.

How Many More Are There?

Patients accurately diagnosis with multiple personality disorder (MPD)/dissociative identity disorder (DID) presenting with a complaint of chronic pain are rare. However, it is likely that one may have encountered such a patient and not been aware of it. When one is able to interact with the individual “personalities,” it presents a fantastic learning opportunity. There may be enormous differences in their experience of pain and the way they cope. Indeed, one or more of the “alters” may claim they do not, in fact, feel pain. MPD/DID is often triggered by some type abuse early in life. Studies have identified difference between the personalities in areas such as physical symptoms, brain wave activity, visual-evoked potential, visual function, galvanic skin response, dominant handedness, response to the same medication, allergic sensitivities, autonomic and endocrine function, and electroencephalogram. MPD/DID is very refractory to treatment. Patient should be managed is a very compassionate fashion.

Evidence-Based Approach and Discussion of ‘Bioceramic Resonance’ to Induce Altered States of Consciousness with Illusory Perception: Possible Application as a Complementary and Alternative Therapy

By combing these results and our previous objective data of electroencephalographic brain wave activity and the locations of brain activation during 3T functional MRI scanning, we hypothesis that the phenomenon observed in this study mimics the psychotherapeutic effects of transcranial brain stimulation, which may probably explain by induction of cerebral electrical discharge and change of synchronous neuronal activity. We discussed the possibility of complementary and alternative therapy on different psychiatric and neurological disorders.

The Effects of 3D and 2D Imaging on Brain Wave Activity in Laparoscopic Training

The current study tested the effects of a state-of-the-art stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) display and a traditional two-dimensional (2D) display on performance and mental workload during simulated laparoscopic tasks with different levels of depth perception over a longer duration than in previous publications. Two different simulated laparoscopic tasks with depth perception, peg transfer, and circle-tracing were performed by 12 participants using 2D and 3D vision systems. The task performances (mean completion time and mean error frequency) and mental workload measures (gamma and alpha brain wave activity, blink frequency and NASA-TLX ratings) were recorded as dependent variables. The physiological mental workload measures were collected via a MUSE EEG headband. The 3D vision system had advantages in mean movement time and mean error frequency in the depth-perception peg transfer task. The mean completion time of the non-depth perception circle-tracing task was significantly lower for 2D than for 3D. For the peg transfer task, EEG alpha wave activity was significantly higher for 3D than for 2D. The EEG gamma wave activity for 2D was significantly higher than that for 3D in both tasks. A significantly higher blink frequency was found for both the peg transfer task and the 3D system. The overall NASA-TLX score of the 2D system was significantly higher. The findings of this research suggest that a 3D vision system could decrease stress, state of attentiveness, and mental workload compared with those of a 2D system, and it might reduce the completion time and increase the precision of depth-perception laparoscopic operations.

A framework to quantify controlled directed interactions in network physiology applied to cognitive function assessment

The complex nature of physiological systems where multiple organs interact to form a network is complicated by direct and indirect interactions, with varying strength and direction of influence. This study proposes a novel framework which quantifies directional and pairwise couplings, while controlling for the effect of indirect interactions. Simulation results confirm the superiority of this framework in uncovering directional primary links compared to previous published methods. In a practical application of cognitive attention and alertness tasks, the method was used to assess controlled directed interactions between the cardiac, respiratory and brain activities (prefrontal cortex). It revealed increased interactions during the alertness task between brain wave activity on the left side of the brain with heart rate and respiration compared to resting phases. During the attention task, an increased number of right brain wave interactions involving respiration was also observed compared to rest, in addition to left brain wave activity with heart rate. The proposed framework potentially assesses directional interactions in complex network physiology and may detect cognitive dysfunctions associated with altered network physiology.