Characteristics of Alpha Band Frequency in Adolescents with Bipolar II Disorder: A Resting-State QEEG Study
,
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the QEEG of adolescents affected by bipolar II disorder with age and gender matched healthy controls, and to extract the characteristics of the alpha frequency band to better understand this disorder.
Methods: Twenty one adolescents affected by acute episodes of bipolar II disorder (BMD II), both hypomanic and depressive episodes, were selected via convenience sampling based on DSM IV criteria and child and adolescent psychiatrist diagnosis. Eleven patients were going through a hypomanic episode and 10 patients were going through a depression episode. Of the participants, 18 who were matched with the patient group participated in this study as a normal group. Any major comorbidities and intellectual disabilities were excluded through applying K-SADS-PL and Raven's IQ test for all the patients and the healthy participants. Electroencephalogram signals were obtained according to 10-20 international system by 21 electrodes from participants in open and closed eyes in a resting state. We selected 40 seconds length segments from each recorded EEG signals that had minimal noise and artifacts. Power spectrum density (PSD) was estimated for each segment and extracted alpha band frequency. We used only referential (unipolar) montage for comparison. Eventually, data were analyzed by independent Mann-Whitney test and independent t test.
Results: We observed significant differences in the alpha frequency band in some brain regions. Alpha power increased in the fronto-central region and right parietal lobe in the patients (P < 0.05). In the patients with BMD II, entropy of alpha oscillations was larger than the normal participants in the central region and in the F3, F4 and P4 channels. Also, there were differences in the variance of alpha oscillations in these regions between the two groups (P < 0.05). In the occipital lobe, alpha wave had different skewness between the two groups (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Thalamus as a generator and modulator of at least a part of alpha oscillations may be involved in this disorder and hence this explains the major symptoms like distractibility and inattention in both hypomanic and depressive episodes of bipolar II disorder.
Association AP. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, text revision (DSM-IV-TR). City: American Psychiatric Association; 2000.
.Bauer M , Pfennig A. Epidemiology of bipolar disorders. Epilepsia 2005; 46: 8-13.
Pini S, de Queiroz V, Pagnin D, Pezawas L, Angst J, Cassano GB, et al. Prevalence and burden of bipolar disorders in European countries. European Neuropsychopharmacology 2005; 15: 425-434.
Hadjipavlou G, Bond DJ , Yatham LN. Bipolar II disorder in context: a review of epidemiology, disability and economic burden. Bipolar II disorder: Modelling, measuring and managing 2012: 46.
Sadock BJ , Sadock VA. Synopsis of psychiatry. 2003.
Vieta E, Gasto C, Otero A, Nieto E , Vallejo J. Differential features between bipolar I and bipolar II disorder. Comprehensive psychiatry 1997; 38: 98-101.
Ghaemi S, Ko JY , Goodwin FK. " Cade's disease" and beyond: misdiagnosis, antidepressant use, and a proposed definition for bipolar spectrum disorder. Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie 2002; 47: 125-134.
Yatham LN. Diagnosis and management of patients with bipolar II disorder. The Journal of clinical psychiatry 2004; 66: 13-17.
Angst J. In Debate. Canadian journal of psychiatry 2006; 51: 3-5.
Lindgren KA, Larson CL, Schaefer SM, Abercrombie HC, Ward RT, Oakes TR, et al. Thalamic metabolic rate predicts EEG alpha power in healthy control subjects but not in depressed patients. Biological psychiatry 1999; 45: 943-952.
Schürmann M , Başar E. Functional aspects of alpha oscillations in the EEG. International Journal of Psychophysiology 2001; 39: 151-158.
Small JG, Milstein V, Malloy FW, Medlock CE , Klapper MH. Clinical and quantitative EEG studies of mania. Journal of affective disorders 1999; 53: 217-224.
Schulz C, Mavrogiorgou P, Schröter A, Hegerl U , Juckel G. Lithium-induced EEG changes in patients with affective disorders. Neuropsychobiology 2000; 42: 33-37.
Başar E, Güntekin B, Atagün I, Gölbaşı BT, Tülay E , Özerdem A. Brain’s alpha activity is highly reduced in euthymic bipolar disorder patients. Cognitive neurodynamics 2012; 6: 11-20.
Özerdem A, Güntekin B, Tunca Z , Başar E. Brain oscillatory responses in patients with bipolar disorder manic episode before and after valproate treatment. Brain research 2008; 1235: 98-108.
O'donnell B, Vohs J, Hetrick W, Carroll C , Shekhar A. Auditory event-related potential abnormalities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. International Journal of Psychophysiology 2004; 53: 45-55.
Sheikhani A, Behnam H, Noroozian M, Mohammadi MR , Mohammadi M. Abnormalities of quantitative electroencephalography in children with Asperger disorder in various conditions. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 2009; 3: 538-546.
Gudmundsson S, Runarsson TP, Sigurdsson S, Eiriksdottir G , Johnsen K. Reliability of quantitative EEG features. Clinical Neurophysiology 2007; 118: 2162-2171.
Clementz BA, Sponheim SR, Iacono WG , Beiser M. Resting EEG in first‐episode schizophrenia patients, bipolar psychosis patients, and their first‐degree relatives. Psychophysiology 1994; 31: 486-494.
Gerez M , Tello A. Clinical significance of focal topographic changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) and evoked potentials (EP) of psychiatric patients. Brain topography 1992; 5: 3-10.
Harmon-Jones E, Abramson LY, Nusslock R, Sigelman JD, Urosevic S, Turonie LD, et al. Effect of bipolar disorder on left frontal cortical responses to goals differing in valence and task difficulty. Biological psychiatry 2008; 63: 693-698.
Kano K, Nakamura M, Matsuoka T, Iida H , Nakajima T. The topographical features of EEGs in patients with affective disorders. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 1992; 83: 124-129.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 10 No 1 (2015) | |
| Section | Articles | |
| Keywords | ||
| Alpha Oscillations Attention Bipolar II Disorder (BMD II) Power Spectra Quantitative EEG (QEEG) Thalamus | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
