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Liuzzi P, Hakiki B, Draghi F, Romoli AM, Burali R, Scarpino M, Cecchi F, Grippo A, Mannini A. EEG fractal dimensions predict high-level behavioral responses in minimally conscious patients. J Neural Eng 2023; 20:046038. [PMID: 37494926 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/aceaac] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Objective.Brain-injured patients may enter a state of minimal or inconsistent awareness termed minimally conscious state (MCS). Such patient may (MCS+) or may not (MCS-) exhibit high-level behavioral responses, and the two groups retain two inherently different rehabilitative paths and expected outcomes. We hypothesized that brain complexity may be treated as a proxy of high-level cognition and thus could be used as a neural correlate of consciousness.Approach.In this prospective observational study, 68 MCS patients (MCS-: 30; women: 31) were included (median [IQR] age 69 [20]; time post-onset 83 [28]). At admission to intensive rehabilitation, 30 min resting-state closed-eyes recordings were performed together with consciousness diagnosis following international guidelines. The width of the multifractal singularity spectrum (MSS) was computed for each channel time series and entered nested cross-validated interpretable machine learning models targeting the differential diagnosis of MCS±.Main results.Frontal MSS widths (p< 0.05), as well as the ones deriving from the left centro-temporal network (C3:p= 0.018, T3:p= 0.017; T5:p= 0.003) were found to be significantly higher in the MCS+ cohort. The best performing solution was found to be the K-nearest neighbor model with an aggregated test accuracy of 75.5% (median [IQR] AuROC for 100 executions 0.88 [0.02]). Coherently, the electrodes with highest Shapley values were found to be Fz and Cz, with four out the first five ranked features belonging to the fronto-central network.Significance.MCS+ is a frequent condition associated with a notably better prognosis than the MCS-. High fractality in the left centro-temporal network results coherent with neurological networks involved in the language function, proper of MCS+ patients. Using EEG-based interpretable algorithm to complement differential diagnosis of consciousness may improve rehabilitation pathways and communications with caregivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piergiuseppe Liuzzi
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
- The Biorobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Istituto di BioRobotica, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, Pontedera, PI, Italy
| | - Bahia Hakiki
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
| | - Francesca Draghi
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Romoli
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
| | - Rachele Burali
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
| | - Maenia Scarpino
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
| | - Francesca Cecchi
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla 3, Florence, 50143 FI, Italy
| | - Antonello Grippo
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
| | - Andrea Mannini
- IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Via di Scandicci 269, Firenze, FI, Italy
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