Characterization of Heart Rate Variability Changes Following Asphyxia in Rats

Objectives: A non-invasive method to monitor the functioning of the autonomous nervous system consists in heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes on HRV after an asphyxia experiment in rats, using several linear (time and frequency domain) and nonlinear parameters (approximate entropy, SD1 and SD2 indices derived from Poincare plots).

Methods: The experiments involved the study of HRV changes after cardiac arrest (CA) resulting from 5 min of hypoxia and asphyxia, followed by manual resuscitation and return of spontaneous circulation. 5 min stationary periods of RR intervals were selected for further analysis from 5 rats in following distinct situations: 1) baseline, 2) 30 min after CA, 3) 60 min after CA, 4) 90 min after CA, 5) 120 min after CA, 6) 150 min after CA. The ANS contribution has been delineated based on time and frequency domain analysis.

Results and Conclusions: The results indicate that the recovery process following the asphyxia cardiac arrest reflects the impaired functioning of the autonomic nervous system. Both linear and nonlinear parameters track the different phases of the experiment, with an increased sensitivity displayed by the approximate entropy (ApEn). After 150 min the ApEn RRI parameter recovers to its baseline value. The results forward the ApEn as a more sensitive parameter of the recovery process following the asphyxia.

Cognitive workload modulation through degraded visual stimuli: a single-trial EEG study

OBJECTIVE

Our experiments explored the effect of visual stimuli degradation on cognitive workload.

APPROACH

We investigated the subjective assessment, event-related potentials (ERPs) as well as electroencephalogram (EEG) as measures of cognitive workload.

MAIN RESULTS

These experiments confirm that degradation of visual stimuli increases cognitive workload as assessed by subjective NASA task load index and confirmed by the observed P300 amplitude attenuation. Furthermore, the single-trial multi-level classification using features extracted from ERPs and EEG is found to be promising. Specifically, the adopted single-trial oscillatory EEG/ERP detection method achieved an average accuracy of 85% for discriminating 4 workload levels. Additionally, we found from the spatial patterns obtained from EEG signals that the frontal parts carry information that can be used for differentiating workload levels.

SIGNIFICANCE

Our results show that visual stimuli can modulate cognitive workload, and the modulation can be measured by the single trial EEG/ERP detection method.

Increased electroencephalographic gamma activity reveals awakening from isoflurane anaesthesia in rats

BACKGROUND

Animal studies often require reliable measures for anaesthetic drug effects. Lately, EEG-based depth of anaesthesia estimation has been widely applied to rat models. This study investigated the reliability of different EEG spectral properties in revealing awakening from isoflurane anaesthesia in rats.

METHODS

Adult Wistar rats with previously implanted frontal epidural electrodes were anaesthetized using isoflurane. The anaesthesia was slowly lightened until awakening, as observed by the first spontaneous movement, after which anaesthesia was induced again by increasing the isoflurane concentration. EEG was recorded during the recovery and induction periods, and the spectrograms and 23 quantitative spectral parameters used in the depth of anaesthesia estimation were calculated from the signals.

RESULTS

The awakening was accompanied by a decrease in EEG activity at frequencies below 25 Hz, while the activity at higher frequencies (25-150 Hz) was increased. Whereas the behaviour of parameters used to measure activity in the lower frequencies was subject to variability between animals, the increase in higher frequency activity was more consistent, resulting in a statistically significant change in the relative gamma power parameters at the moment of awakening.

CONCLUSIONS

The increase in frontal relative gamma activity, especially in the 50-150 Hz frequency band, seems to be the most reliable EEG indicator for the awakening of a rat from isoflurane anaesthesia. A number of other spectral measures can also be used to detect this event. However, the role of gamma frequencies in the performance of these parameters is crucial.

Wireless micropower instrumentation for multimodal acquisition of electrical and chemical neural activity

The intricate coupling between electrical and chemical activity in neural pathways of the central nervous system, and the implication of this coupling in neuropathologies, such as Parkinson's disease, motivates simultaneous monitoring of neurochemical and neuropotential signals. However, to date, neurochemical sensing has been lacking in integrated clinical instrumentation as well as in brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Here, we present an integrated system capable of continuous acquisition of data modalities in awake, behaving subjects. It features one channel each of a configurable neuropotential and a neurochemical acquisition system. The electrophysiological channel is comprised of a 40-dB gain, fully differential amplifier with tunable bandwidth from 140 Hz to 8.2 kHz. The amplifier offers input-referred noise below 2 muV rms for all bandwidth settings. The neurochemical module features a picoampere sensitivity potentiostat with a dynamic range spanning six decades from picoamperes to microamperes. Both systems have independent on-chip, configurable DeltaSigma analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with programmable digital gain and resolution. The system was also interfaced to a wireless power harvesting and telemetry module capable of powering up the circuits, providing clocks for ADC operation, and telemetering out the data at up to 32 kb/s over 3.5 cm with a bit-error rate of less than 10(-5). Characterization and experimental results from the electrophysiological and neurochemical modules as well as the full system are presented.

Contrast-enhanced imaging of cerebral vasculature with laser speckle

High-resolution cerebral vasculature imaging has applications ranging from intraoperative procedures to basic neuroscience research. Laser speckle, with spatial contrast processing, has recently been used to map cerebral blood flow. We present an application of the technique using temporal contrast processing to image cerebral vascular structures with a field of view a few millimeters across and approximately 20 microm resolution through a thinned skull. We validate the images using fluorescent imaging and demonstrate a factor of 2-4 enhancement in contrast-to-noise ratios over reflectance imaging using white or spectrally filtered green light. The contrast enhancement enables the perception of approximately 10%-30% more vascular structures without the introduction of any contrast agent.

Neural interfacing

The problem of interfacing microsystems to neurons or brain has led to exciting developments in the fields of micro/nanotechnologies and integrated circuitry and systems. Neurons have been patterned using micro/nanotechnologies to form structural and functional networks. Micro-electrodes and integrated circuitry have been developed for large scale, multichannel measurements from brain tissue. Driving force for this technology comes from research and clinical interest in the emerging fields of neural prosthesis, deep brain stimulations and brain-machine interface. This review presents some examples of the work done in the field of neural patterning, tissue interfacing, electrodes, recording and system integration.

Investigation of the effects of ischemic preconditioning on the HRV response to transient global ischemia using linear and nonlinear methods

Ischemic preconditioning (IP) has been used as a strategy to prevent cell death in various organs, including the brain and the heart. Investigation of the effects of ischemic preconditioning mostly employed models with reduced complexity, such as cell cultures, tissue slices or perfused organ preparations. Although such models can provide valuable insight into the protective mechanism of preconditioning, the functional (re)organization of the control mechanisms at the level of the living organism cannot be assessed. The purpose of the present animal model study was to evaluate the effect of global ischemic preconditioning on the heart rate variability (HRV) response to the asphyxia insult. The data consisted of 4 h RR interval measurements recorded in five preconditioned and five non-preconditioned Wistar rats. Using linear (time and frequency domain) and nonlinear (approximate entropy and parameters of Poincare plots) measures, we evaluated the dynamic time course of the HRV response to the asphyxia insult and the effect of preconditioning on the autonomic neurocardiac control. Both the linear and nonlinear parameters indicate a faster recovery of the baseline HRV corresponding to the preconditioned groups, though only the spectral analysis identifies a statistically significant difference between the two groups. For the preconditioned group, at about 90 min after the asphyxic insult, the autonomic neural balance (measured by LF/HF ratio) appears fully recovered. The small variation of the rest of the parameters indicates the necessity of further investigation including the design of a larger study with a higher statistical power. Our results show for the first time that global ischemic preconditioning influences the HRV response to the asphyxia injury. The neuroprotective effect of preconditioning translates into a faster recovery of the basal HRV and the autonomic modulation of the heart.

Characterization of heart rate variability changes following asphyxia in rats

OBJECTIVES

A non-invasive method to monitor the functioning of the autonomous nervous system consists in heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes on HRV after an asphyxia experiment in rats, using several linear (time and frequency domain) and nonlinear parameters (approximate entropy, SD1 and SD2 indices derived from Poincare plots).

METHODS

The experiments involved the study of HRV changes after cardiac arrest (CA) resulting from 5 min of hypoxia and asphyxia, followed by manual resuscitation and return of spontaneous circulation. 5 min stationary periods of RR intervals were selected for further analysis from 5 rats in following distinct situations: 1) baseline, 2) 30 min after CA, 3) 60 min after CA, 4) 90 min after CA, 5) 120 min after CA, 6) 150 min after CA. The ANS contribution has been delineated based on time and frequency domain analysis.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that the recovery process following the asphyxia cardiac arrest reflects the impaired functioning of the autonomic nervous system. Both linear and nonlinear parameters track the different phases of the experiment, with an increased sensitivity displayed by the approximate entropy (ApEn). After 150 min the ApEn RRI parameter recovers to its baseline value. The results forward the ApEn as a more sensitive parameter of the recovery process following the asphyxia.

Time-dependent entropy estimation of EEG rhythm changes following brain ischemia

Our approach is motivated by the need to generate a rigorous measure of the degree of disorder (or complexity) of the EEG signal in brain injury. Entropy is a method to quantify the order/disorder of a time series. It is the first time that a time-dependent entropy (TDE) is used in the quantification of brain injury level. The TDE was sensitive enough to monitor the significant changes in the subject's brain rhythms during recovery from global ischemic brain injury. Among the different entropy measures, we used Tsallis entropy. This entropy is parametrized and is able to match with the particular properties of EEG, like long-range rhythms, spikes, and bursts. The method was tested in a signal composed of segments of synthetic signals (Gaussian and uniform distributions) and segments of real signals. The real signal segments were extracted from normal EEG, EEG recordings from early recovery, and normal EEG corrupted by simulated spikes and bursts. Adult Wistar rats were subjected to asphyxia-cardiac arrest for 3 and 5 min. The TDE detected the pattern of ischemia-induced EEG alterations and was able to discriminate the different injury levels. Two parameters seem to be good descriptors of the recovery process; the mean entropy and the variance of the estimate followed opposite trends, with the mean entropy decreasing and its variance increasing with injury.

Removal of ECG interference from the EEG recordings in small animals using independent component analysis

In experiments involving small animals, the electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded during severe injury and accompanying resuscitation exhibit the strong presence of electrocardiogram (ECG). For improved quantitative EEG (qEEG) analysis, it is therefore imperative to remove ECG interference from EEG. In this paper, we validate the use of independent component analysis (ICA) to effectively suppress the interference of ECG from EEG recordings during normal activity, asphyxia and recovery following asphyxia. Two channels of EEG from five rats were recorded continuously for 2 h. Simultaneous recording of one channel ECG was also made. Epochs of 4 s and 1 min were selected from baseline, asphyxia and recovery (every 10 min) and their independent components and power spectra were calculated. The improvement in normalized power spectrum of EEG obtained for all animals was 7.71+/-3.63 db at the 3rd minute of recovery and dropped to 1.15+/-0.60 db at 63rd minute. The application of ICA has been particularly useful when the power of EEG is low, such as that observed during early brain hypoxic-asphyxic injury. The method is also useful in situations where accurate indications of EEG signal power and frequency content are needed.

Presyncope caused by central hypovolaemia is not preceded by evoked potential alterations

The mechanism(s) responsible for the onset of presyncope during a central hypovolaemic challenge have gone undefined for many years. It has been speculated that a decrease in cerebral blood flow initiates presyncopal responses, which in turn lead to greater decreases in cerebral oxygen delivery and unconsciousness. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) were monitored as a measure of cerebral functioning in ten subjects during presyncopal symptom limiting lower body negative pressure (a central hypovolaemic challenge). SEP latency and amplitudes have been correlated with cerebral oxygen uptake, so SEP activity can serve as an indirect indicator of cerebral homeostasis. SEPs were generated by electrically stimulating the median nerve and recoding the resulting potentials over the contralateral cerebral cortex. While heart rate and mean blood pressure both fell at presyncope, there were no changes noted in either SEP latency or amplitude at any point before (latency = 22.9 +/- 9 ms; amplitude = 2.86 +/- 0.24 microV), during (22.6 +/- 0.9 ms; 2.68 +/- 0.2 microV), or after (22.7 +/- 0.9 ms; 2.37 +/- 0.23 microV) the occurrence of presyncope. We conclude that the onset of presyncope is not associated with a decrease in cerebral function.