Klein, Antonia; Aeschlimann, Sarah A; Zubler, Frederic; Scutelnic, Adrian; Riederer, Franz; Ertl, Matthias; Schankin, Christoph J (2024). Alterations of the alpha rhythm in visual snow syndrome: a case-control study. The journal of headache and pain, 25(53) BioMed Central 10.1186/s10194-024-01754-x
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BACKGROUND
Visual snow syndrome is a disorder characterized by the combination of typical perceptual disturbances. The clinical picture suggests an impairment of visual filtering mechanisms and might involve primary and secondary visual brain areas, as well as higher-order attentional networks. On the level of cortical oscillations, the alpha rhythm is a prominent EEG pattern that is involved in the prioritisation of visual information. It can be regarded as a correlate of inhibitory modulation within the visual network.
METHODS
Twenty-one patients with visual snow syndrome were compared to 21 controls matched for age, sex, and migraine. We analysed the resting-state alpha rhythm by identifying the individual alpha peak frequency using a Fast Fourier Transform and then calculating the power spectral density around the individual alpha peak (+/- 1 Hz). We anticipated a reduced power spectral density in the alpha band over the primary visual cortex in participants with visual snow syndrome.
RESULTS
There were no significant differences in the power spectral density in the alpha band over the occipital electrodes (O1 and O2), leading to the rejection of our primary hypothesis. However, the power spectral density in the alpha band was significantly reduced over temporal and parietal electrodes. There was also a trend towards increased individual alpha peak frequency in the subgroup of participants without comorbid migraine.
CONCLUSIONS
Our main finding was a decreased power spectral density in the alpha band over parietal and temporal brain regions corresponding to areas of the secondary visual cortex. These findings complement previous functional and structural imaging data at a electrophysiological level. They underscore the involvement of higher-order visual brain areas, and potentially reflect a disturbance in inhibitory top-down modulation. The alpha rhythm alterations might represent a novel target for specific neuromodulation.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
we preregistered the study before preprocessing and data analysis on the platform osf.org (DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/XPQHF , date of registration: November 19th 2022).
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Head Organs and Neurology (DKNS) > Clinic of Neurology 07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology 07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Cognitive Psychology, Perception and Methodology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Klein, Antonia, Aeschlimann, Sarah Anna, Zubler, Frédéric, Scutelnic, Adrian, Riederer, Franz, Ertl, Matthias, Schankin, Christoph Josef |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology |
ISSN: |
1129-2377 |
Publisher: |
BioMed Central |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
08 Apr 2024 09:51 |
Last Modified: |
09 Apr 2024 03:51 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1186/s10194-024-01754-x |
PubMed ID: |
38584260 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Alpha rhythm EEG Network disorder Thalamocortical dysrhythmia Visual snow syndrome |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/195740 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/195740 |
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