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Biomedical subjects

J Röschke

Publications and source records attributed to J Röschke.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Limbic activity in slow wave sleep in a healthy subject with alpha-delta sleep.

All-night electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded in a healthy subject with known alpha-delta sleep. Recordings were made from all 19 of the 10/20 system electrode sites, and low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) was used to estimate intracerebral current densities. Sleep stages were compared within classical frequency bands by statistical parametric mapping (SPM). With the onset of sleep, occipital alpha abated. With increasing depth of sleep, alpha power increased in a region comprising the left frontal lobe, the anterior and parietal cingulum, and the anterior and medial right front lobe. In slow wave sleep (SWS), frontal alpha power was much greater than in wakefulness. The maximum of frontal alpha power of SWS was localised symmetrically in the left and right anterior cingulum. The observed alpha activity was different from the occipital alpha characteristic of wakefulness; it was a distinct activity of separate origin. The anterior limbic lobes seemed to play an active part in SWS in this healthy volunteer with an alpha-delta sleep pattern.

Adult↗

Macrostructural EEG characterization based on nonparametric change point segmentation: application to sleep analysis.

In the present investigation a new methodology for macrostructural EEG characterization based on automatic segmentation has been applied to sleep analysis. A nonparametric statistical approach for EEG segmentation was chosen, because it minimizes the need for a priori information about a signal. The method provides the detection of change-points i.e. boundaries between quasi-stationary EEG segments based on the EEG characteristics within four fundamental frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha and beta). Polysomnographic data of 18 healthy subjects were analyzed. Our findings show that nonparametric change-point segmentation in combination with cluster analysis enables us to obtain a clear picture of the hierarchical macrostructural organization of sleep, which is impossible to deduce from the unsegmented EEG data. Analysis of correlations between classically defined sleep stages and piecewise stationary power step functions reveals that three basic patterns can be distinguished: SWS (stage III/stage IV), stage II and stage I/REM. In accordance with correlation analyses, cluster detection shows that the cyclic sleep patterns during the course of the night become clearly observable by implementation of only three classes. Since the described methodology is based on a minimum of a priori assumptions, it may be useful for the development of a new sleep classification standard, which goes beyond the established Rechtschaffen and Kales scheme.

Adult↗

Neural net classification of REM sleep based on spectral measures as compared to nonlinear measures.

In various studies the implementation of nonlinear and nonconventional measures has significantly improved EEG (electroencephalogram) analyses as compared to using conventional parameters alone. A neural network algorithm well approved in our laboratory for the automatic recognition of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was investigated in this regard. Originally based on a broad range of spectral power inputs, we additionally supplied the nonlinear measures of the largest Lyapunov exponent and correlation dimension as well as the nonconventional stochastic measures of spectral entropy and entropy of amplitudes. No improvement in the detection of REM sleep could be achieved by the inclusion of the new measures. The accuracy of the classification was significantly worse, however, when supplied with these variables alone. In view of results demonstrating the efficiency of nonconventional measures in EEG analysis, the benefit appears to depend on the nature of the problem.

Adult↗

Nonlinear analysis of continuous ECG during sleep I. Reconstruction.

In recent years evidence has accumulated that ECG signals are of a nonlinear nature. It has been recognized that strictly periodic cardiac rhythms are not accompanied by healthy conditions but, on the contrary, by pathological states. Therefore, the application of methods from nonlinear system theory for the analysis of ECG signals has gained increasing interest. Crucial for the application of nonlinear methods is the reconstruction (embedding) of the time series in a phase space with appropriate dimension. In this study continuous ECG signals of 12 healthy subjects recorded during different sleep stages were analysed. Proper embedding dimension was determined by application of two techniques the false nearest neighbours method and the saturation of the correlation dimension. Results for the ECG signals were compared with findings for simulated data (quasiperiodic dynamics, Lorenz data, white noise) and for phase randomized surrogates. Findings obtained with the two approaches suggest that embedding dimensions from 6 to 8 may be regarded as suitable for the topologically proper reconstruction of ECG signals.

Adult↗

Nonlinear analysis of continuous ECG during sleep II. Dynamical measures.

The hypothesis that cardiac rhythms are associated with chaotic dynamics implicating a healthy flexibility has motivated the investigation of continuous ECG with methods of nonlinear system theory. Sleep is known to be associated with modulations of the sympathetic and parasympathetic control of cardiac dynamics. Thus, the differentiation of ECG signals recorded during different sleep stages can serve to determine the usefulness of nonlinear measures in discriminating ECG states in general. For this purpose the following six nonlinear measures were implemented: correlation dimension D2, Lyapunov exponent L1. Kolmogorov entropy K2, as well as three measures derived from the analysis of unstable periodic orbits. Results of this study show that continuous ECG signals can be differentiated from linear stochastic surrogates by each of the nonlinear measures. The most significant finding with respect to the sleep-related differentiation of ECG signals is an increase in dominant chaoticity assessed by L1 and a reduction in the degrees of freedom estimated by D2 during REM sleep compared to slow wave sleep. Our findings suggest that the increase in dominant chaoticity during REM sleep with regard to time-continuous nonlinear analysis is comparable to an increased heart rate variability. The reduction in the correlation dimension may be interpreted as an expression of the withdrawal of respiratory influences during REM sleep.

Adult↗

Increased bioavailability of oral melatonin after fluvoxamine coadministration.

BACKGROUND: Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is known to elevate melatonin serum concentrations. It has not been clear whether these effects might be attributed to an increased melatonin production or to an decreased elimination of melatonin. The latter hypothesis was tested by this study. METHODS: Five healthy male volunteers (one CYP2D6 poor metabolizer) received 5 mg melatonin either with or without coadministration of 50 mg fluvoxamine. Serum concentrations of melatonin and fluvoxamine were assessed from 0 to 28 hours after melatonin intake. RESULTS: Coadministration of fluvoxamine, on average, led to an 17-fold higher (P < .05) area under concentration-time curve (AUC) and a 12-fold higher (P < .01) serum peak concentration (Cmax) of melatonin. The terminal elimination half-life was not significantly affected. The AUC and Cmax of fluvoxamine were about three times higher and the half-life was about two times higher in the poor metabolizer. There was a correlation (r = 0.63; P < .01) between the melatonin and fluvoxamine serum concentrations. The poor metabolizer was found to have a more pronounced and longer-lasting effect of fluvoxamine on the pharmacokinetics of melatonin. CONCLUSION: This study showed an increase in the bioavailability of oral melatonin by coadministration of fluvoxamine. The effects of fluvoxamine on the melatonin serum concentrations in patients with depression might therefore be caused by inhibition of the elimination of melatonin and not attributable to an increased production of melatonin.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

Alterations of continuous MEG measures during mental activities.

In a pilot study, we investigated the topography of 11 continuous MEG measures for the eyes-opened and eyes-closed condition together with three simple mental tasks (mental arithmetic, visual imagery, word generation). One-minute recordings for each condition from 16 right-handed subjects were analyzed. The electrophysiological measures consisted of 6 spectral band measures together with spectral edge frequency and spectral entropy, plus the time-domain-based entropy of amplitudes (ENA) and the nonlinear measures correlation dimension D2 and Lyapunov exponent L1. In summary, our results indicate a pronounced task-dependent difference between the anterior and the posterior region, but no lateralization effects. Although the nonlinear measures ranged in the middle field with respect to the number of significant contrasts, they were the only ones to be partially successful in discriminating the mental tasks from each other. The most efficient measure turned out to be the ENA. Under mental activation the ENA was larger than in both no task conditions (eyes opened and eyes closed). This finding reflects lower variations of the maximum amplitude during performance of mental tasks than during no task states.

Adult↗

Human sleep EEG under the influence of pulsed radio frequency electromagnetic fields. Results from polysomnographies using submaximal high power flux densities.

Former exploratory investigations of sleep alterations due to global system for mobile communications (GSM) signals have shown a hypnotic and REM-suppressive effect under field exposure. This effect was observed in a first study using a power flux density of 0.5 W/m(2), and the same trend occurred in a second study with a power flux density of 0.2 W/m(2). For the present study, we applied a submaximal power flux density of 50 W/m(2). To investigate putative effects of radio frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) of cellular GSM phones on human sleep EEG pattern, all-night polysomnographies of 20 healthy male subjects both with and without exposure to a circularly polarized EMF (900 MHz, pulsed with a frequency of 217 Hz, pulse duration 577 microseconds) were recorded. The results showed no significant effect of the field application either on conventional sleep parameters or on sleep EEG power spectra.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

EEG analysis with nonlinear deterministic and stochastic methods: a combined strategy.

We describe nonlinear deterministic versus stochastic methodology, their applications to EEG research and the neurophysiological background underlying both approaches. Nonlinear methods are based on the concept of attractors in phase space. This concept on the one hand incorporates the idea of an autonomous (stationary) system, on the other hand implicates the investigation of a long time evolution. It is an unresolved problem in nonlinear EEG research that nonlinear methods per se give no feedback about the stationarity aspect. Hence, we introduce a combined strategy utilizing both stochastic and nonlinear deterministic methods. We propose, in a first step to segment the EEG time series into piecewise quasi-stationary epochs by means of nonparametric change point analysis. Subsequently, nonlinear measures can be estimated with higher confidence for the segmented epochs fulfilling the stationarity condition.

Algorithms↗

An analysis of the brain's transfer properties in schizophrenia: amplitude frequency characteristics and evoked potentials during sleep.

BACKGROUND: Classical analysis of spontaneous sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) in schizophrenia commonly reveals alterations of sleep continuity, number of awakenings, slow-wave sleep (SWS), and REM sleep compared to healthy controls; however, conventional analysis cannot help understand dynamic differences of the sleep EEG during different sleep stages. METHODS: We measured late components of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) during different sleep stages of 11 schizophrenic inpatients and in a sex- and age-matched control group from scalp positions FZ, CZ, and PZ. According to linear system theory, we then computed the amplitude-frequency characteristic (AFC) from averaged AEPs and VEPs in different sleep stages. These AFCs describe the input-output relation of the system under study, leading to a characterization of the transfer properties of the schizophrenic brain during sleep. RESULTS: Significant differences could be found for the transfer properties during stage II and SWS between schizophrenics and controls. During REM a marked enhancement of theta resonance was seen in schizophrenics. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study point to highly different central nervous system transfer properties in schizophrenics and controls. Compared to previous investigations in depression, the results provide additional information for distinguishing schizophrenia and depression in EEG studies.

Adult↗

[Adjuvant whole body acupuncture in depression. A placebo-controlled study with standardized mianserin therapy].

In order to examine the efficacy of whole body acupuncture additionally applied to drug treatment in depression, a single-blind placebo-controlled study with 70 inpatients administered to three different treatment groups has been carried out. All patients were pharmacologically treated with the tetracyclic antidepressant mianserin. The verum group (n = 22) received acupuncture at specific points considered to be effective in the treatment of depression. The placebo group (n = 24) was treated with acupuncture at non-specific locations and the control group (n = 24) received only pharmacological treatment. Acupuncture was applied three times a week over a period of four weeks. Psychopathology was rated by judges blind to verum/placebo conditions twice a week over eight weeks with the CGI, GAS, BRMS and BfS rating scales. Additionally applied acupuncture improved the course of depression more than pharmacological treatment with mianserin did by itself. However, we could not detect any differences between placebo and verum acupuncture.

Acupuncture Therapy↗

Conventional and spectral power analysis of all-night sleep EEG after subchronic treatment with paroxetine in healthy male volunteers.

Paroxetine is a selective and potent serotonin reuptake inhibitor with reported antidepressant properties. Since changes in the regular sleeping pattern were described as side effects under treatment with paroxetine, the impact of the drug on the sleep architecture is of major interest. The present study addressed the question of subchronic effects of paroxetine medication (30 mg/day) in eight healthy male volunteers in a double blind, placebo-controlled crossover-design. Conventional sleep EEG parameters and additionally computed spectral power analysis based on FFT of 20-s time epochs in the delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma frequency range for different sleep stages after 4 weeks of treatment were investigated. Subchronic paroxetine administration in healthy subjects led to a prolonged REM latency and a decrease in the number of REM phases, whereas sleep efficiency, total sleep time, sleep onset latency, number of awakenings, and awake during sleep period time were not altered by paroxetine medication. Moreover, we could not detect any alterations of the spectral power values in certain frequency bands during NREM or REM sleep following subchronic paroxetine medication.

Adult↗

Effects of Lorazepam on the automatic online evaluation of sleep EEG data in healthy volunteers.

In earlier publications we described an automatic algorithm to detect rapid eye movement (REM) sleep from a single-channel EEG recording without using EMG or EOG information. This system consisted of an artificial neural network operating on the basis of preprocessed EEG data and was composed to provide a maximum of robustness for online applications. In the present study the influence of acute administration of lorazepam on the performance of the REM detection procedure was evaluated. Following an adaptation to laboratory conditions, sleep EEG data were obtained from healthy subjects in three nights each. On the evening of the second night the volunteers received a single dosage of 2.5 mg Lorazepam; the other two nights were drug-free. The sleep profile and the quantitative EEG data reflected the known changes following acute administration of benzodiazepines: during the treatment night the amount of non-REM sleep and the relative power of the EEG signal in the beta and gamma frequency bands was increased relative to the first night, while the amount of REM sleep was reduced. The night of drug discontinuation still showed some characteristics of the treatment night. The discordance rate of the REM detection algorithm relative to the manual evaluation ranged from 9% to 14.2% for the different nights. Surprisingly, the percentage of correctly classified time periods was even higher for the lorazepam night as compared to the other nights.

Adult↗

No effects of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields on heart rate variability during human sleep.

The influence of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by digital mobile radio telephones on heart rate during sleep in healthy humans was investigated. Beside mean RR interval and total variability of RR intervals based on calculation of the standard deviation, heart rate variability was assessed in the frequency domain by spectral power analysis providing information about the balance between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system. For most parameters, significant differences between different sleep stages were found. In particular, slow-wave sleep was characterized by a low ratio of low- and high-frequency components, indicating a predominance of the parasympathetic over the sympathetic tone. In contrast, during REM sleep the autonomic balance was shifted in favor of the sympathetic activity. For all heart rate parameters, no significant effects were detected under exposure to the field compared to placebo condition. Thus, under the given experimental conditions, autonomic control of heart rate was not affected by weak-pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields.

Adult↗

Effects of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields on the neuroendocrine system.

The influence of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted from a circularly polarized antenna on the neuroendocrine system in healthy humans was investigated (900 MHz electromagnetic field, pulsed with 217 Hz, average power density 0.02 mW/cm2). Nocturnal hormone profiles of growth hormone (GH), cortisol, luteinizing hormone (LH) and melatonin were determined under polysomnographic control. An alteration in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity was found with a slight, transient elevation in the cortisol serum level immediately after onset of field exposure which persisted for 1 h. For GH, LH and melatonin, no significant effects were found under exposure to the field compared to the placebo condition, regarding both total hormone production during the entire night and dynamic characteristics of the secretion pattern. Also the evaluation of the sleep EEG data revealed no significant alterations under field exposure, although there was a trend to an REM suppressive effect. The results indicate that weak high-frequency electromagnetic fields have no effects on nocturnal hormone secretion except for a slight elevation in cortisol production which is transient, pointing to an adaptation of the organism to the stimulus.

Adolescent↗