The Minimally Conscious State (MCS) is a clinical condition included within the spectrum of Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) characterized by fluctuating and inconsistent retrieval of awareness. The short and long term fluctuations of the MCS patients deeply influence the reliability of clinical evaluations, with a potentially strong impact on diagnosis, treatments, and end-of-life decisions. Previous studies have extensively examined the relationship between the clinical condition of DoC patients and several EEG-based parameters, with however, a limited investigation of their trends over time except for the spectral entropy whose time course was examined in MCS patients to determine its periodicity. In the present study, the phenomenon of fluctuations in MCS was investigated in terms of the variability of multiple spectral EEG parameters over time. The ultimate aim of the study was to develop a model for a passive brain-computer interface (BCI) to provide an objective instrument to characterize the fluctuating MCS condition.
The variability of EEG spectral measures in MCS: towards a multidimensional characterization of the awareness fluctuations / Quattrociocchi, Ilaria; Riccio, Angela; Caracci, Valentina; Galiotta, Valentina; D’Ippolito, Mariagrazia; Rotondo, Emanuela; Pichiorri, Floriana; Cincotti, Febo; Toppi, Jlenia; Mattia, Donatella. - (2025). (Intervento presentato al convegno 11th International BCI meeting tenutosi a Banff, Canada).
The variability of EEG spectral measures in MCS: towards a multidimensional characterization of the awareness fluctuations
Ilaria Quattrociocchi
Primo
;Angela Riccio;Valentina Caracci;Valentina Galiotta;Mariagrazia D’Ippolito;Emanuela Rotondo;Floriana Pichiorri;Febo Cincotti;Jlenia Toppi;
2025
Abstract
The Minimally Conscious State (MCS) is a clinical condition included within the spectrum of Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) characterized by fluctuating and inconsistent retrieval of awareness. The short and long term fluctuations of the MCS patients deeply influence the reliability of clinical evaluations, with a potentially strong impact on diagnosis, treatments, and end-of-life decisions. Previous studies have extensively examined the relationship between the clinical condition of DoC patients and several EEG-based parameters, with however, a limited investigation of their trends over time except for the spectral entropy whose time course was examined in MCS patients to determine its periodicity. In the present study, the phenomenon of fluctuations in MCS was investigated in terms of the variability of multiple spectral EEG parameters over time. The ultimate aim of the study was to develop a model for a passive brain-computer interface (BCI) to provide an objective instrument to characterize the fluctuating MCS condition.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
