Eyes-Open Resting EEG of Women with Endometriosis Versus Age-Matched Controls
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1
National Institute of Complementary Medicine, Western Sydney University, Australia
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2
Brain & Behaviour Research Institute (BBRI), School of Psychology, Australia
Aims: Endometriosis is a progressive disease where cells similar to those found in the uterus grow in other parts of the body. The most commonly reported symptoms of Endometriosis are fatigue and debilitating pain. Chronic pain is strongly underpinned by maladaptive cortical mechanisms. With few pain management options available, understanding the brain dynamics of women with Endometriosis in necessary. The present study utilised Electroencephalography (EEG) to measure resting brain activity with the aim of elucidating brain mechanisms underpinning chronic pain in women with Endometriosis cf. age-matched controls.
Method: Participants were 20 women with a diagnosis of Endometriosis via laparoscopy in the past 5 years (mean age = 28.6, range = 21-40 years), and 20 healthy females (mean age = 26.0, range = 21-39 years). Four minutes of eyes-open resting EEG was recorded from 30 scalp sites, and EOG-corrected data were divided into 2-second epochs and Discrete Fourier Transformed. EEG band amplitudes (Delta, Theta, Alpha-1, Alpha-2, Beta-1, Beta-2) were compared between groups.
Results: Across groups, Delta and Theta activity was largest frontally, and in the midline. Alpha-1 and Alpha-2 activity was largest in the parietally and in the midline, with the addition of a right hemispheric elevation for Alpha-2. Beta-1 activity was elevated in the right hemisphere. Beta-2 activity was largest frontally. Between groups, significantly greater Delta activity was evidenced for healthy controls compared to the Endometriosis group. There were no further group main effects or group × topography interactions.
Conclusions: Across groups, topographies were consistent with previous resting eyes-open EEG research. Between groups, women with Endometriosis produced less Delta activity than healthy controls, which is in line with previous findings linking reduced delta to impaired pain responsivity. Findings implicate reduced eyes-open resting delta activity as a potential index of the cortical mechanisms associated with chronic pain in women with Endometriosis.
Keywords:
Endometriosis,
EEG,
Eyes-open (EO),
resting,
Pain
Conference:
ASP2017: 27th Annual Meeting for the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology, Parramatta, Australia, 29 Nov - 1 Dec, 2017.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Abstract (Student Award)
Citation:
Cave
AE,
Steiner
GZ,
Barry
RJ,
Smith
CA and
Armour
MJ
(2019). Eyes-Open Resting EEG of Women with Endometriosis Versus Age-Matched Controls.
Conference Abstract:
ASP2017: 27th Annual Meeting for the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2017.224.00040
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Received:
24 Nov 2017;
Published Online:
25 Jan 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Mrs. Adele E Cave, National Institute of Complementary Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia, A.Cave@westernsydney.edu.au