OBJECTIVE: Considering the increasing use of complexity estimates in neuropsychiatric populations, a normative study is critical to define the 'normal' behaviour of brain oscillatory complexity across the life span. METHOD: This study examines changes in resting-state magnetoencephalogram (MEG) complexity - quantified with the Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) algorithm - due to age and gender in a large sample of 222 (100 males/122 females) healthy participants with ages ranging from 7 to 84 years. RESULTS: A significant quadratic (curvilinear) relationship (p<0.05) between age and complexity was found, with LZC maxima being reached by the sixth decade of life. Once that peak was crossed, complexity values slowly decreased until late senescence. Females exhibited higher LZC values than males, with significant differences in the anterior, central and posterior regions (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the evolution of brain oscillatory complexity across the life span might be considered a new illustration of a 'normal' physiological rhythm. SIGNIFICANCE: Previous and forthcoming clinical studies using complexity estimates might be interpreted from a more complete and dynamical perspective. Pathologies not only cause an 'abnormal' increase or decrease of complexity values but they actually 'break' the 'normal' pattern of oscillatory complexity evolution as a function of age.
OBJECTIVE: Considering the increasing use of complexity estimates in neuropsychiatric populations, a normative study is critical to define the 'normal' behaviour of brain oscillatory complexity across the life span. METHOD: This study examines changes in resting-state magnetoencephalogram (MEG) complexity - quantified with the Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) algorithm - due to age and gender in a large sample of 222 (100 males/122 females) healthy participants with ages ranging from 7 to 84 years. RESULTS: A significant quadratic (curvilinear) relationship (p<0.05) between age and complexity was found, with LZC maxima being reached by the sixth decade of life. Once that peak was crossed, complexity values slowly decreased until late senescence. Females exhibited higher LZC values than males, with significant differences in the anterior, central and posterior regions (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the evolution of brain oscillatory complexity across the life span might be considered a new illustration of a 'normal' physiological rhythm. SIGNIFICANCE: Previous and forthcoming clinical studies using complexity estimates might be interpreted from a more complete and dynamical perspective. Pathologies not only cause an 'abnormal' increase or decrease of complexity values but they actually 'break' the 'normal' pattern of oscillatory complexity evolution as a function of age.
Authors: Ricardo Bruña; Fernando Maestú; David López-Sanz; Anto Bagic; Ann D Cohen; Yue-Fang Chang; Yu Cheng; Jack Doman; Ted Huppert; Tae Kim; Rebecca E Roush; Beth E Snitz; James T Becker Journal: Brain Connect Date: 2021-11-02
Authors: Elizabeth Shumbayawonda; Pinar Deniz Tosun; Alberto Fernández; Michael Pycraft Hughes; Daniel Abásolo Journal: Entropy (Basel) Date: 2018-07-03 Impact factor: 2.524
Authors: Elizabeth Shumbayawonda; Daniel Abásolo; David López-Sanz; Ricardo Bruña; Fernando Maestu; Alberto Fernández Journal: Entropy (Basel) Date: 2019-08-15 Impact factor: 2.524