Relaxation and phase space singularities in time series of human magnetoencephalograms as indicator of photosensitive epilepsy

Abstract

To analyze the crucial role of fluctuation and relaxation effects for the function of the human brain we studied some statistical quantifiers that support the information characteristics of neuromagnetic brain responses (magnetoencephalogram, MEG). The signals to a flickering stimulus of different color combinations have been obtained from a group of control subjects which is then contrasted with those of a patient suffering photosensitive epilepsy (PSE). We found that the existence of the specific stratification of the phase clouds and the concomitant relaxation singularities of the corresponding nonequilibrium dynamics of the chaotic behavior of the signals in separate areas in a patient provide likely indicators for the zones which are responsible for the appearance of PSE. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.