Affiliations: Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Universitaire
Saint-Philibert – GHICL, Lomme, France | INS, UMR 1106 Inserm, Aix-Marseille Université,
Marseille, France | URECA EA 1059, Université de Lille Nord de
France, Lille, France
Note: [] Corresponding author: Laurent Pezard, INS, UMR 1106 27 Bd Jean
Moulin, 13385 Marseille {Cedex} 05, France. E-mail:
laurent.pezard@univ-amu.fr
Abstract: The disturbance of cortical communication has been hypothesized as
an important factor in the appearance of cognitive impairment in (MS).
Cortical communication is quantified here in control subjects and
patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) on the basis of mean coherence in the δ, �,
α, β and γ bands and using mutual information computed between
pairs of bipolar EEG signals recorded during resting condition. Each patient
received also a cognitive assessment using a battery of neuropsychological
tests specific to cognitive deficits in MS. No difference was observed for the coherence indices whereas
inter-hemispheric and right hemisphere mutual information is significantly
lower in patients with MS than in control subjects. Moreover, inter-hemispheric
mutual information decrease significantly with illness duration and right
mutual information differentiate cognitively deficient and non-deficient
patients. Mutual information allows to quantify the cortical communication in
patients with RRMS and is related to clinical characteristics. Cortical communication quantified in a resting state might be a
potential marker for the neurological damage induced by RRMS.
Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, EEG signals, mutual information, coherence, inter-hemispheric communication
