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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Imaging and Stimulation
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1438924
This article is part of the Research Topic EEG Rhythms: Decoding the Evolutionary Enigma of Alpha Rhythms in Vertebrates View all 4 articles

Age-related changes in EEG signal using triple correlation values

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Brain Functions Laboratory, Inc, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2 Department of Neurosurgery, Toyama University Hospital, Japan, Toyama, Japan
  • 3 Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo, Japan
  • 4 Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Toyama Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toyama, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The alpha rhythm in human electroencephalography (EEG) is known to decrease in frequency with age. Previous study has shown that elderly individuals with dementia exhibit higher S values (spatial variability) and SD values (temporal variability) in the triple correlation of the occipital region (P3, P4, Oz) compared to healthy elderly individuals. The objective of this research is to examine changes in S and SD values of the alpha band with aging in healthy individuals using triple correlation values from the frontal region. The subjects were 50 healthy elderly subjects (mean age 73.0 ± 5.1 years), 34 healthy younger subjects (mean age 28.1 ± 4.6 years), and 21 dementia patients (mean age 70.1 ± 9.1 years).The methodology involved recording EEG for 5 minutes during rest with closed eyes, and then calculating S and SD values of the alpha band (8-13Hz) using three electrodes in the frontal region (F3, F4, Fpz). The findings indicated that the S values of young individuals were significantly higher than those of elderly individuals (P<0.01), whereas the SD values of young individuals tended to be lower than those of elderly individuals. The elevated S values in young individuals imply greater spatial variability akin to individuals with dementia, whereas the reduced SD values in young individuals suggest lower temporal variability unlike individuals with dementia. The discrepancy between the S value and SD value in healthy young individuals suggests that the normal cortical dipole in the frontal regions might be more abundant in them compared to healthy elderly individuals.

    Keywords: EEG1, correlation2, dipole3, Aging4, alpha-bands5

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Watanabe, Shibata, TANAKA, Ishii, Higuchi, Kobayashi and Kosugi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yuri Watanabe, Brain Functions Laboratory, Inc, Tokyo, Japan

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