Electroencephalography of completely locked-in state patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Yasuhisa Maruyama; Natsue Yoshimura; Aygul Rana; Azim Malekshahi; Alessandro Tonin; Andres Jaramillo-Gonzalez; Niels Birbaumer; Ujwal Chaudhary

doi:10.1016/j.neures.2020.01.013

Electroencephalography of completely locked-in state patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Neurosci Res. 2021 Jan:162:45-51. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2020.01.013. Epub 2020 Jan 31.

Authors

Yasuhisa Maruyama¹, Natsue Yoshimura², Aygul Rana³, Azim Malekshahi³, Alessandro Tonin³, Andres Jaramillo-Gonzalez³, Niels Birbaumer⁴, Ujwal Chaudhary⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan.
² Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan; Department of Advanced Neuroimaging, Integrative Brain Imaging Center, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan; PRESTO, JST, Saitama, Japan; Neural Information Analysis Laboratories, ATR, Kyoto, Japan. Electronic address: yoshimura.n.ac@m.titech.ac.jp.
³ Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
⁴ Wyss-Center for Bio and NeuroEngineering, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Wyss-Center for Bio and NeuroEngineering, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 32014573
DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2020.01.013

Abstract

Patients in completely locked-in state (CLIS) due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) lose the control of each and every muscle of their body rendering them motionless and without any means of communication. Though some studies have attempted to develop brain-computer interface (BCI)-based communication methods with CLIS patients, little information is available of the neuroelectric brain activity of CLIS patients. However, because of the difficulties with and often loss of communication, the neuroelectric signature may provide some indications of the state of consciousness in these patients. We recorded electroencephalography (EEG) signals from 10 CLIS patients during resting state and compared their power spectral densities with those of healthy participants in fronto-central, central, and centro-parietal channels. The results showed significant power reduction in the high alpha, beta, and gamma bands in CLIS patients, indicating the dominance of slower EEG frequencies in their oscillatory activity. This is the first study showing group-level EEG change of CLIS patients, though the reason for the observed EEG change cannot be concluded without any reliable communication methods with this population.

Keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Completely locked-in state; Electroencephalography; Power spectral density; Resting state.

MeSH terms

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis*
Brain-Computer Interfaces*
Electroencephalography
Humans