Eyes-Open Resting EEG of Women with Endometriosis Versus Age-Matched Controls

Event Abstract Eyes-Open Resting EEG of Women with Endometriosis Versus Age-Matched Controls - 1 National Institute of Complementary Medicine, Western Sydney University, Australia - 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 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. 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, [email protected]