Time-frequency analyses of reaction times and theta/beta EEG ratio in pediatric patients with traumatic brain injury: A preliminary study.
PURPOSE
The literature on patients with attention deficit reports peculiar reaction time (RT) oscillation at very low frequencies (VLFO=0.06-0.2 Hz). The data were explained as default mode network (DMN) intrusion in goal-oriented activity. The present study investigates whether a pattern of recurrent lapses in attention can be detected in TBI patients and whether VLFO can be generalized to the sustained attention deficit, regardless of etiology.


METHODS
Groups of pediatric TBIs and healthy controls performed four attentional tasks. RT and theta/beta timeseries were subjected to wavelet analyses.


RESULTS
Significant high-power VLFOs were recorded in patient group performances but not in those of controls, both for RTs and theta/beta in all the tasks.


CONCLUSION
This preliminary study suggests that central-midline theta/beta ratio could be considered a neurophysiological correlate of RT variability and that the general continuous goal-oriented activity can be cross-etiologically affected by recurrent lapses in attention regardless of the specific cognitive component involved.
['Gazzellini|Simone|S|', 'Napolitano|Antonio|A|', 'Bauleo|Graziella|G|', 'Bisozzi|Eleonora|E|', 'Lispi|Maria Luisa|ML|', 'Ardu|Eleonora|E|', 'Castelli|Enrico|E|', 'Benso|Francesco|F|']
D000293:Adolescent D001288:Attention D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic D016022:Case-Control Studies D002648:Child D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D011930:Reaction Time D013826:Theta Rhythm
Attention TBI RT variability EEG spectral analysis children