Comparative analysis of background EEG activity in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy during valproic acid treatment: a standardized, low-resolution, brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) study

• Published in: BMC neurology Vol. 22; no. 1; p. 48
• Main Authors: Moon, Ja-Un, Lee, Joo-Young, Kim, Kwang-Yeon, Eom, Tae-Hoon, Kim, Young-Hoon, Lee, In-Goo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 09.02.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Anticonvulsants; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Care and treatment; Child; Cognitive ability; Comparative analysis; Convulsions & seizures; Data processing; Diagnosis; Digitization; Distributed source model; Divalproex; Dosage and administration; Drug dosages; EEG; Electrodes; Electroencephalography; Electromagnetic Phenomena; Electromagnetism; Electrophysiology; Epilepsy; Frontal gyrus; Frontal Lobe; Humans; Investigations; Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME); Methods; Myoclonic epilepsy; Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile - drug therapy; Neural networks; Occipital lobe; Patients; Quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG); Risk factors; Standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA); Statistical analysis; Theta rhythms; Tomography; Valproic acid; Valproic Acid - therapeutic use; South Korea; Distributed source model; Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME); Standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA); Valproic acid; Quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG)
• ISSN: 1471-2377; 1471-2377
• DOI: 10.1186/s12883-022-02577-6

By definition, the background EEG is normal in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients and not accompanied by other developmental and cognitive problems. However, some recent studies using quantitative EEG (qEEG) reported abnormal changes in the background activity. QEEG investigation in patients undergoing anticonvulsant treatment might be a useful approach to explore the electrophysiology and anticonvulsant effects in JME. We investigated background EEG activity changes in patients undergoing valproic acid (VPA) treatment using qEEG analysis in a distributed source model. In 17 children with JME, non-parametric statistical analysis using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography was performed to compare the current density distribution of four frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, and beta) between untreated and treated conditions. VPA reduced background EEG activity in the low-frequency (delta-theta) bands across the frontal, parieto-occipital, and limbic lobes (threshold log-F-ratio = ±1.414, p < 0.05; threshold log-F-ratio= ±1.465, p < 0.01). In the delta band, comparative analysis revealed significant current density differences in the occipital, parietal, and limbic lobes. In the theta band, the analysis revealed significant differences in the frontal, occipital, and limbic lobes. The maximal difference was found in the delta band in the cuneus of the left occipital lobe (log-F-ratio = -1.840) and the theta band in the medial frontal gyrus of the left frontal lobe (log-F-ratio = -1.610). This study demonstrated the anticonvulsant effects on the neural networks involved in JME. In addition, these findings suggested the focal features and the possibility of functional deficits in patients with JME.