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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Perception Science
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1547167
The effect of neural pre-stimulus oscillations on poststimulus auditory ERPs in disorders of consciousness
Provisionally accepted- Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
Objective: Pre-stimulus oscillations predispose subsequent stimulus detection, but the connection between the pre-stimulus EEG activity and post-stimulus event-related potentials (ERPs) has rarely been examined in people in a disorder of consciousness (DoC).Hence, we investigate how pre-stimulus EEG band power is related to post-stimulus ERPs in individual DoC patients.We conducted an active auditory oddball paradigm encompassing standard, target and unexpected oddball stimuli with 14 DoC patients (N=12 minimally conscious state [MCS], N = 2 unresponsive wakefulness syndrome [UWS]). We extracted post-stimulus ERPs as well as pre-stimulus power-spectra.Results: P3-like differences between brain responses to auditory stimuli were found in seven patients (50%). Delta and theta bands pre-dominated in all patients' pre-stimulus frequency spectra but patients with significant post-stimulus P3 had on average more pre-stimulus beta and gamma power than those without P3 effects. Pre-stimulus power and post-stimulus ERPs correlated in five patients (36%). Several patients showed negative correlations between pre-stimulus gamma and beta power and post-stimulus ERP variables, suggesting a u-shaped relationship between pre-stimulus highfrequency activity and post-stimulus ERP. Only one patient showed a relationship between prestimulus alpha and ERP as previously found in healthy people.Pre-stimulus frequencies in DoC were related to post-stimulus processing at least in some patients. The pattern of the relationship showed considerable variability underscoring substantial alterations in brain activity among patients with DoC. The comparison with somatosensory results in the same patients emphasizes the need for multi-modal assessment.The high inter-individual variability in the connection between pre-stimulus oscillations and auditory processing in DoC necessitates extensive individual assessment to determine optimal stimulation windows for DoC patients.
Keywords: Disorder of consciousness (DOC), minimally conscious state (MCS), unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), EEG frequency bands, EEG, Auditory event related potentials
Received: 17 Dec 2024; Accepted: 25 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lindenbaum, Steppacher, Mehlmann and Kissler. 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:
Laura Lindenbaum, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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