Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Publication Date

2-1-2012

Abstract

Coherence estimation is one of the methods for understanding functional connectivity deficits and frequency specific deficits in schizophrenia. Coherence between different lobes of the brain from task related data at different frequency bands was investigated in patients with Schizophrenia (SP) and Healthy Normal Volunteers (HNV). The task was aimed to study the neural mechanisms underlying auditory and visual integration in patients with schizophrenia relative to healthy controls, which requires intact connectivity between the lobes of the brain in order to recombine the sensory information into a complete percept of the external world. Coherence was calculated from the processed magneto-encephalography (MEG) data for each pair of lobes of left temporal and parietal, left temporal and occipital, right temporal and parietal, right temporal and occipital, parietal and occipital at the frequency bands of delta (0 to 4 Hz), theta (4 -8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta (13 -30 Hz) and gamma (30-100 Hz). Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) was performed on the coherence data of 30 subjects comprised of 15 patients and 15 controls. There was a significant interaction between frequency and diagnosis with age. Significant differences were found between patients and controls at the Delta frequency band, which was confirmed with Bonferroni-corrected -t-tests at the delta frequency range in each pair of regions. It was found that patients had higher coherence than controls in the delta frequency band and it was significant across lobes which suggest an abnormal MEG coherence during evoked activity in schizophrenic patients.

Keywords

Schizophrenia--Pathophysiology, Magnetoencephalography, Delta rhythm.

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Computer Engineering

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Stephen, Julia

Second Committee Member

Ghani, Nasir

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