Session PC1.5

A Study of Heart Rate and Brain System Complexity and Their Interaction in Sleep-Deprived Subjects

A Kokonozi, E Michail, I Chouvarda*, N Maglaveras

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece

In this work we investigate the synchronization of the dynamic behaviour of heart rate (ECG) and brain (EEG) signals. EEG and ECG recordings were collected during experiment with sleep-deprived subjects exposed to real field driving conditions. The complexity measure employed is the sample entropy, which is a probabilistic estimate of the pointwise match, within a tolerance, between the two signals. The degree to which brain and heart complexity loose complexity in a synchronous manner, indicating a possible interaction between the two systems is investigated. The preliminary results obtained from the examination of three subjects show the existence of a weak-to-intermediate cross-correlation between these pairs of biological oscillators. Furthermore, the frequency content in both heart rate and brain signals was calculated via power spectrum analysis and the association of synchronisation patterns with prevalent frequencies in the two systems was investigated. The unresolved hidden complexity is quantified by means of the examination of data from the other available subjects.

(Abstract Control Number: 182)