Topographic mapping of brain potentials in the newborn infant: the establishment of normal values and utility in assessing infants with neurological injury

Abstract

Aim: To demonstrate that quantitative EEG (qEEG) can be used as a non‐invasive measure of brain injury by establishing normative data in term infants and contrasting it with other modalities of brain imaging. Design: qEEG during quiet sleep was performed on 13 healthy full‐term infants comprising a normal group and on 10 infants with neurological abnormalities identified on brain imaging studies (abnormal group) at 36–47 wk postconceptional age. Quantitative analysis was performed and topographic maps were produced for each patient. The EEG data from the normal group, after spectral analysis, yielded power data in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands and coherence information, which then formed the normative database. qEEG from the infants in the abnormal group was then compared to this normative data. Results: The normal group's mean absolute power in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands for all EEG leads combined were 278.48 ± 83.83, 31.71 ± 10.12, 29.20 ± 2.04, and 35.76 ± 11.35 uv2, respectively. The median frequency was 1.49 ± 0.07, 5.45 ± 3.46, 9.74 ± 5.11, and 18.01 ± 3.38 Hz, respectively. The qEEG was abnormal in all 10 study infants, while abnormalities were noted in the clinical EEG in 4 of 10, in the neuroultrasound in 5 of 10, in the CT in one of 6, and in the MRI in 2 of 2 tested. Conclusions: qEEG appears to be a usefd non‐invasive method for measuring brain injury as it correlates well with other modalities of brain imaging and, if corroborated by further study, may, in fact, be more sensitive in determining abnormalities in brain function.

The use of event-related potentials in the study of early cognitive development

“…Normal infant EEG is dominated by delta (1-3.9 Hz) and theta (3.9-7.8 Hz) band activity of large amplitude (see for instance Mandelbaum et al, 2000). The average power of the delta band in particular is over 10 times higher than the alpha and beta band signals, which is not the case in normal adults.…”

Clinical significance of electroencephalography power spectrum density and functional connection analysis in neonates with hypoxic‐ischemic encephalopathy

“…EEG has been widely used clinically. EEG can quantify the changes in cortical rhythm, exhibit the complex interaction between brain regions, and reflect the characteristics of brain maturation and dysfunction (Mandelbaum et al., 2000).…”