Brain disorder

Autism

The coordination of neuronal activity in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia was examined. Data from Magnetoencephalography (MEG) scans was used to analyze brain activity in patients with ASD and first-episode schizophrenia (FE-schizophrenia). The analysis focused on gamma-band (>25Hz) and specifically high-gamma-band (>60 Hz) oscillations. Gamma-band activity was strongly correlated with symptoms in both ASD and schizophrenia. Compared to healthy controls, ASD patients took longer to react to low-quality black-and-white face pictures (Mooney faces) and had lower detection rates. The patients who scored lowest on Mooney face recognition also had lower perceptual organization as evidenced by lower high-gamma-band activity on an MEG scan.

Schizophrenia

In FE-schizophrenia, sensory processing impairments were related to abnormal gamma-band activity and furthermore that abnormal gamma-band activity might drive imbalances in inhibition and excitation in schizophrenia.

Our research demonstrated that patient symptoms in both ASD and FE-schizophrenia were related to abnormalities in gamma-band oscillations, allowing gamma-band activity to be used as a diagnostic tool for these conditions and pointing out the deficit of high-gamma-band activity as a viable treatment target.

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a relatively common disorder caused by varied reasons including brain defects, head trauma, infectious diseases, stroke, brain tumors, or genetic or developmental abnormalities. For the infant, the causes are premature birth, birth trauma, serious infections involving the brain, abnormal development of the brain structure, and genetic conditions. The structural changes of the brain showing as cortical dysplasia, necrosis or gliosis lead to dysregulation of cellular excitability and epilepsy. Although seizures are brief and infrequent, the caused temporally disability significantly impairs the quality of life. Infants who were diagnosed as epilepsy have the higher incidence of seizures in the first years of life than at any other time and epilepsy surgery is safe in very young children. Thus, there is a need for developing noninvasive methodologies based on EEG and/or MEG to localize the active tissue in a better means with more accurate information for helping surgery and to gain insights into how the disorder affects the development of normal brain functions.

Dipole fitting (MEG)


sLORETA (MEG)

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ECoG data : γ band (30-100Hz) PSD distribution on the ECoG grids from the recorded patient: Pre-Seizure (left) and discharge at Seizure onset (right).