Characterization of EEG patterns in brain-injured subjects and controls after a Snoezelen(®) intervention.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the changes induced in electroencephalographic (EEG) activity by a Snoezelen(®) intervention on individuals with brain-injury and control subjects.


METHODS
EEG activity was recorded preceding and following a Snoezelen(®) session in 18 people with cerebral palsy (CP), 18 subjects who have sustained traumatic brain-injury (TBI) and 18 controls. EEG data were analyzed by means of spectral and nonlinear measures: median frequency (MF), individual alpha frequency (IAF), sample entropy (SampEn) and Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC).


RESULTS
Our results showed decreased values for MF, IAF, SampEn and LZC as a consequence of the therapy. The main changes between pre-stimulation and post-stimulation conditions were found in occipital and parietal brain areas. Additionally, these changes are more widespread in controls than in brain-injured subjects, which can be due to cognitive deficits in TBI and CP groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings support the notion that Snoezelen(®) therapy affects central nervous system, inducing a slowing of oscillatory activity, as well as a decrease of EEG complexity and irregularity. These alterations seem to be related with higher levels of relaxation of the participants.
['Gómez|Carlos|C|', 'Poza|Jesús|J|', 'Gutiérrez|María T|MT|', 'Prada|Esther|E|', 'Mendoza|Nuria|N|', 'Hornero|Roberto|R|']
D000328:Adult D001930:Brain Injuries D016022:Case-Control Studies D004569:Electroencephalography D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged
Snoezelen(®) Brain-injury Biomedical signal processing Electroencephalography (EEG) Non-pharmacological therapies