Open Access

N. Japaridze, M. Siniatchkin, U. Stephani, Muthuraman Muthuraman

• Aim: Continues spikes and waves during slow sleep (CSWS) is an agerelated epileptic encephalopathy characterized by occurrence of diffuse,continues spike and wave discharges during NREM sleep, seizures andpsychomotor impairment. The aim of our study was to investigate theneuronal networks underling background oscillations of CSWC using thesource analysis method Dynamic Imaging of Coherent Sources (DICS)and renormalized partial directed coherence (RPDC). Methods: In order to investigate underlying network and effective con-nectivity within the detected network, a DICS analyses and renormalizedpartial directed coherence (RPDC) methods were applied. The baselinesleep EEG recordings and follow up sleep EEG recordings from 12Patients with CSWS were used for the analyses. Results and Conclusions: The results revealed that independent of aeti-ology and severely of the disease CSWS EEG pattern is associated withthe complex network of coherent sources in medial prefrontalAim: Continues spikes and waves during slow sleep (CSWS) is an agerelated epileptic encephalopathy characterized by occurrence of diffuse,continues spike and wave discharges during NREM sleep, seizures andpsychomotor impairment. The aim of our study was to investigate theneuronal networks underling background oscillations of CSWC using thesource analysis method Dynamic Imaging of Coherent Sources (DICS)and renormalized partial directed coherence (RPDC). Methods: In order to investigate underlying network and effective con-nectivity within the detected network, a DICS analyses and renormalizedpartial directed coherence (RPDC) methods were applied. The baselinesleep EEG recordings and follow up sleep EEG recordings from 12Patients with CSWS were used for the analyses. Results and Conclusions: The results revealed that independent of aeti-ology and severely of the disease CSWS EEG pattern is associated withthe complex network of coherent sources in medial prefrontal cortex,somatosensory association cortex/posterior cingulate cortex, medial pre-frontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus/parahippocampal gyrus/insularcortex, Thalamus and cerebellum. The described network underlyingCSWS was found on both group and individual levels and was no longerobserved in follow up EEGs of the patients with normalized sleep EEGs,suggesting the specificity of the network for the CSWS pattern. Furtheron, for the first time, using RPDC analyses we investigated the hierarchywithin the described network, which showed that Thalamus, togetherwith mesial temporal and parietal regions may be seen as a central hub ofthe underlying network. The involvement of this thalamocortical net-work, which was no longer observed in normalized EEGs, and a furtherpropagation towards the frontal region may interfere with restructuringof cognitive networks in the sensitive phase of development.…