The search for statistical patterns of pathological activity in human EEG signals in focal epilepsy

Abstract

Modern data science faces a lot of challenges, one of which is the search for diagnostic criteria for neurological diseases. New methods of statistical analysis are actively applied in the field of biophysics to solve this issue. In this paper we apply the Memory Functions Formalism to analyze electroencephalogram signal recordings in the sleeping state of 8 healthy subjects and 19 patients with nocturnal lobe epilepsy. We observe the considerable difference of statistical memory effects and fractal properties at the pathology in comparison with the control group. Furthermore, we reveal significant alterations in brain rhythms at power spectra of statistical memory functions for two groups of subjects. As a result, we show that the application of the statistical analysis methodology of bioelectrical brain cortex activity recordings, after appropriate verification, can be useful in the search for diagnostic criteria of nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy.