Dalton Sarah G H, Cavanagh James F, Richardson Jessica D
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, United States.
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2021 Mar 17;15:624660. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.624660. eCollection 2021.
We investigated spectral resting-state EEG in persons with chronic stroke-induced aphasia to determine its reliability, sensitivity, and relationship to functional behaviors. Resting-state EEG has not yet been characterized in this population and was selected given the demonstrated potential of resting-state investigations using other neuroimaging techniques to guide clinical decision-making. Controls and persons with chronic stroke-induced aphasia completed two EEG recording sessions, separated by approximately 1 month, as well as behavioral assessments of language, sensorimotor, and cognitive domains. Power in the classic frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, and beta) was examined via spectral analysis of resting-state EEG data. Results suggest that power in the theta, alpha, and beta bands is reliable for use as a repeated measure. Significantly greater theta and lower beta power was observed in persons with aphasia (PWAs) than controls. Finally, in PWAs theta power negatively correlated with performance on a discourse informativeness measure, while alpha and beta power positively correlated with performance on the same measure. This indicates that spectral rsEEG slowing observed in PWAs in the chronic stage is pathological and suggests a possible avenue for directly altering brain activation to improve behavioral function. Taken together, these results suggest that spectral resting-state EEG holds promise for sensitive measurement of functioning and change in persons with chronic aphasia. Future studies investigating the utility of these measures as biomarkers of frank or latent aphasic deficits and treatment response in chronic stroke-induced aphasia are warranted.
我们对慢性中风所致失语症患者的静息态脑电图频谱进行了研究，以确定其可靠性、敏感性以及与功能行为的关系。静息态脑电图在这一人群中尚未得到特征描述，鉴于使用其他神经成像技术进行静息态研究已显示出指导临床决策的潜力，故而选择了此项研究。对照组和慢性中风所致失语症患者完成了两次脑电图记录，间隔约1个月，同时还进行了语言、感觉运动和认知领域的行为评估。通过对静息态脑电图数据进行频谱分析，检测经典频段（δ、θ、α和β）的功率。结果表明，θ、α和β频段的功率作为重复测量指标具有可靠性。失语症患者（PWAs）的θ功率显著高于对照组，β功率则显著低于对照组。最后，在失语症患者中，θ功率与语篇信息量测量指标的表现呈负相关，而α和β功率与同一测量指标的表现呈正相关。这表明在慢性期失语症患者中观察到的静息态脑电图频谱减慢是病理性的，并提示了一条直接改变大脑激活以改善行为功能的可能途径。综上所述，这些结果表明，静息态脑电图频谱有望用于敏感测量慢性失语症患者的功能及变化。未来有必要开展研究，探讨这些测量指标作为慢性中风所致失语症明显或潜在失语症缺陷及治疗反应生物标志物的效用。
