Bai Yang, Xia Xiaoyu, Li Xiaoli, Wang Yong, Yang Yi, Liu Yangfeng, Liang Zhenhu, He Jianghong
Institute of Electrical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China.
Department of Neurosurgery, PLA Army General Hospital, Beijing 100700, China; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Medical School, Tsinghua University, China.
Neuroscience. 2017 Mar 27;346:247-254. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.01.036. Epub 2017 Jan 29.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been suggested as a therapeutic technique for treating patients with disorder of consciousness (DOC). Although studies have reported its benefits for patients, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of SCS on the EEG of patients in a minimally conscious state (MCS), which would allow us to explore the possible workings underpinning of the approach. Resting state EEG was recorded before and immediately after SCS, using various frequencies (5Hz, 20Hz, 50Hz, 70Hz and 100Hz), for 11 patients in MCS. Relative power, coherence, S-estimator and bicoherence were calculated to assess the EEG changes. Five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma) and three regions (frontal, central and posterior) were divided in the calculation. The main findings of this study were that: (1) significantly altered relative power and synchronisation was found in delta and gamma bands after one SCS stimulation using 5Hz, 70Hz or 100Hz; (2) bicoherence showed that coupling within delta was significantly decreased after stimulation using 70Hz, while reduction of coupling between delta and gamma was found when using 5Hz and 100Hz. However, SCS of 20Hz, 50Hz and sham stimulation did not induce changes in any frequency band at any region. This study showed EEG evidence that SCS can modulate the brain function of MCS patients, speculatively by activating the formation-thalamus-cortex network.
脊髓刺激（SCS）已被提议作为治疗意识障碍（DOC）患者的一种治疗技术。尽管研究报告了其对患者的益处，但其潜在的病理生理机制仍不清楚。本研究的目的是测量SCS对处于最小意识状态（MCS）患者脑电图的影响，这将使我们能够探索该方法潜在的作用机制。对11例MCS患者在SCS之前和之后立即使用各种频率（5Hz、20Hz、50Hz、70Hz和100Hz）记录静息状态脑电图。计算相对功率、相干性、S估计器和双相干性以评估脑电图变化。计算中划分了五个频段（δ、θ、α、β和γ）和三个区域（额叶、中央和后部）。本研究的主要发现是：（1）使用5Hz、70Hz或100Hz进行一次SCS刺激后，在δ和γ频段发现相对功率和同步性有显著改变；（2）双相干性显示，使用70Hz刺激后，δ频段内的耦合显著降低，而使用5Hz和100Hz时，发现δ和γ频段之间的耦合减少。然而，20Hz、50Hz的SCS和假刺激在任何区域的任何频段均未引起变化。本研究显示脑电图证据表明SCS可以调节MCS患者的脑功能，推测是通过激活丘脑-皮质网络。
