Comparison of EEG analysis systems during lidocaine-induced seizure activity and administration of valproic acid in rabbits

Abstract

There are numerous studies on EEG (electroencephalogram) activity during seizures, natural sleep, and administration of central nervous system (CNS)acting drugs such as antiepileptics, antipsychotics, adrenergic agonists, and anesthetics Two common methods of analyzing EEG activity under such conditions are power spectrum analysis and aperiodic analysis. There are certain important differences between these two methods of EEG analysis. With power spectrum analysis, frequency information about the EEG is provided by applying high order mathematical treatment to reduce the complex analog waveforms to equivalent sine waves. Several segments of analog information taken over short time intervals are averaged to provide graphic and/or digital information for the entire time interval over which the several segments were obtained. With aperiodic analysis, no averaging is performed and, instead, each individual waveform is detected and displayed graphically and/or digitally. That the essential natures of the information provided by these two methods of EEG analysis are dissimilar suggests that the two methods may differ with respect to utility for monitoring certain EEG patterns. For example, aperiodic analysis more easily and accurately identifies spike activity in the EEG. This is true, at least in part, because it is the only technique with a built-in spike detection algorithm. Power spectrum analysis may fail to discriminate significant spike activity because the power contained in the spike activity is relatively low and is overshadowed by the low-frequency components which accompany the spike activity. On Comparison of EEG analysis systems during lidocaine-induced seizure activity and administration of valproic acid in rabbits