Type III intermittency: a nonlinear dynamic model of EEG burst suppression

Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1994 Jan;90(1):17-23. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(94)90109-0.

Abstract

Burst suppression electroencephalograms from 9 comatose patients have been studied using nonlinear dynamic techniques. These EEG records show many dynamical features characteristic of nonlinear systems, including sensitive dependence on initial conditions, self-organization, similarity across scales, and intermittency. Histograms of burst durations showed an asymmetric distribution with a decreasing tail of increasing duration. Interpreting the histograms from the standpoint of intermittency classifications of iterated dynamical maps, the absence of any conspicuous maximal cut-off duration suggests a type III intermittency. The power-law exponent of the decreasing tail is -3/2 for type III intermittency in the large scale sample size limit, and we have found the EEGs to be consistent with type III intermittency behavior. We have also developed a nonlinear algorithm which models burst suppression pattern based on a low dimensional return map. Burst suppression pattern appears to be the constrained activity of a nonlinear dynamical system at the transition to chaos.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Coma / physiopathology*
  • Electroencephalography*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Time Factors