Regional reductions in sleep electroencephalography power in obstructive sleep apnea: a high-density EEG study.
OBJECTIVE
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with significant alterations in neuronal integrity resulting from either hypoxemia and/or sleep loss. A large body of imaging research supports reductions in gray matter volume, alterations in white matter integrity and resting state activity, and functional abnormalities in response to cognitive challenge in various brain regions in patients with OSA. In this study, we used high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG), a functional imaging tool that could potentially be used during routine clinical care, to examine the regional distribution of neural activity in a non-clinical sample of untreated men and women with moderate/severe OSA.


METHODS
Sleep was recorded with 256-channel EEG in relatively healthy subjects with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > 10, as well as age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched controls selected from a research population initially recruited for a study on sleep and meditation.


METHODS
Sleep laboratory.


METHODS
Nine subjects with AHI > 10 and nine matched controls.


METHODS
N/A.


RESULTS
Topographic analysis of hdEEG data revealed a broadband reduction in EEG power in a circumscribed region overlying the parietal cortex in OSA subjects. This parietal reduction in neural activity was present, to some extent, across all frequency bands in all stages and episodes of nonrapid eye movement sleep.


CONCLUSIONS
This investigation suggests that regional deficits in electroencephalography (EEG) power generation may be a useful clinical marker for neural disruption in obstructive sleep apnea, and that high-density EEG may have the sensitivity to detect pathological cortical changes early in the disease process.
Department of Psychiatry.
Stephanie G
SG
Jones
Department of Psychiatry.
Brady A
BA
Riedner
Department of Psychiatry.
Richard F
RF
Smith
Department of Psychiatry.
Fabio
F
Ferrarelli
Department of Psychiatry.
Giulio
G
Tononi
Department of Psychiatry ; Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.
Richard J
RJ
Davidson
Department of Psychiatry.
Ruth M
RM
Benca
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology*
Brain imaging; EEG; neural activity; obstructive sleep apnea