Propofol-induced sedation diminishes the strength of frontal-parietal-occipital EEG network

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2017 Jul:2017:4463-4466. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2017.8037847.

Abstract

The level of conscious experience can be effectively and reversibly altered by the administration of sedative agents. Several studies attempted to explore the variations in frontal-parietal network during propofol-induced sedation. However, contradictory outcomes warrant further investigations. In this study, we implemented the Neural Gas algorithm-based delay symbolic transfer entropy (NG-dSTE) for investigation of frontal-parietal-occipital (F-P-O) network using scalp EEG signals recorded during altered levels of consciousness. Our results show significant disruption of the F-P-O network during mild and moderate levels of propofol sedation. In particular, the interaction between frontal and parietal-occipital region is highly disturbed. Moreover, we found measurable effect of sedation on local interactions in the frontal network whereas parietal-occipital network experienced least variations. The results support the conclusion that the connectivity based features can be utilized as reliable biomarker for assessment of sedation levels effectively.

MeSH terms

  • Conscious Sedation
  • Consciousness
  • Electroencephalography*
  • Hypnotics and Sedatives
  • Parietal Lobe
  • Propofol

Substances

  • Hypnotics and Sedatives
  • Propofol