Effect of Wrist Tapping on Interhemispheric Coherence in Patients with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the dynamics of interhemispheric coherence (IC) as an indicator of integration of different areas of the brain and their participation in the performance of certain functions before and after wrist tapping (WT), using the author's method in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Methods and Results: The study included 81 subjects of working age, including 51 clinically healthy volunteers (median age of 39[21;56] years) and 30 patients (median age of 27[23;38] years) with JME. Analysis of IC in the electrode pairs Fp1-Fp2, F3-F4, C3-C4, T3-T4 was performed using a computer encephalographic complex. A coherent EEG analysis was used to identify and evaluate the relationships between different areas of the brain. Based on the change in the coherence coefficients (CCs), the level of integrative activity of brain structures was quantified. In healthy volunteers, before and after WT, we observed a statistically significant decrease in CCs for the beta-1 band in the pairs Fp1-Fp2, F3-F4, and C3-C4 (P<0.05), while in the pair T3-T4, changes in CCs were not statistically significant (P>0.05). At the same time, a statistically significant decrease in CCs in the alpha band was found only in the frontal regions in the pairs Fp1-Fp2 and F3-F4 (P<0.05). No statistically significant changes were found in all the studied pairs in the theta band. When comparing CCs in JME patients in beta–1 and theta bands, before and after WT, we did not find statistically significant changes in CCs in all the studied electrode pairs. However, in the alpha band, we found a statistically significant decrease in CCs in the frontal region in the F3-F4 (P=0.0038) and C3-C4 electrode pairs (P=0.034). The results of the study of interhemispheric integration showed statistically significant differences between patients with JME and the control group. Conclusion: WT according to the author's method does not provoke the occurrence of interictal epileptiform discharges on the EEG and epileptic seizures in patients with JME. Coherent analysis showed positive changes in interhemispheric integrations of neurons in the beta–1 and alpha frequency ranges, mainly in the anterior hemispheres.