Using the Limited Capacity Model of hostility (Walters & Harrison, 2006; Williamson & Harrison, 2005; Williamson, Harrison, & Walters, 2007) as a guide, the stress response of individuals with a variable and dysregulated fuel supply to their brain (diabetes) was examined subsequent to lateralized fluency-stress. This theoretical "capacity" model of hostility was applied to a relatively unknown population of high hostile-diabetics. Given the associations between hostility and diabetes, it was argued that a very robust stress response would be evident, as measured as by peripheral glucose and QEEG magnitudes, as a result of modest regulatory capacity subsequent to right frontal lobe stress. Moreover, it was expected that high hostile-diabetics would show diminished performance on neuropsychological indicants of right frontal functions. / Ph. D.

Addressing issues with sensitivity and specificity in TBI assessment this study compared the performance on neuropsychological tests and results from qEEG assessment between a heterogeneous TBI (N=20) group and a matched normal control group (N=20). The TBI group was performed worse on all measures. Significant differences in performance were found in the domains of information processing speed and executive function. Effect sizes of these differences were large. This was also true for the amplitude of the qEEG parameter P3NoGo along with P3Go latency and theta power in the temporal and frontal lobes. Binary logistic regression revealed higher sensitivity and specificity when combining neuropsychological tests and qEEG parameters, suggesting qEEG parameters in  combination with neuropsychological tests to be good assets in TBI assessment.

Clinical psychology is a discipline that assesses and treats individuals experiencing a variety of psychological disorders; including brain injuries. Employing neuroimaging tools can reveal biological correlates that have not been previously studied in detail. The quantitative electroencephalograph (QEEG) is a dynamic neuroimaging tool that allows for the measurement of brain activity. QEEG source localization analysis has provided additional construct validity for neuropsychological tests by revealing increased activation in the associated brain regions. In addition, differences in resting brain activity have been found depending on the severity of neuropsychological impairment. Finally, enhancement of memory in normal individuals is shown by applying a weak physiologically-patterned electromagnetic field over the left hemisphere. Therefore, by integrating the QEEG with elements of clinical psychology it is possible to provide construct validity to neuropsychological tests, show differences in brain activation depending on the severity of neuropsychological impairment, and study emerging therapeutic techniques that could enhance memory.

This study examined quantitative EEGs of six individuals with chronic pain and compared them to an age- and gender-matched normative database of healthy control subjects in an attempt to discern whether a particular pattern of resting state EEG activity is associated with chronic pain. In the chronic pain group, significantly reduced absolute power was seen in delta and theta bandwidths at frontal sites in the eyes-closed condition. In the eyes-open condition, significantly reduced absolute power was seen in delta, theta, and alpha bandwidths at frontal, central, and temporal sites, and increased relative high beta power was seen in the parietal region. Reduced theta/high beta and delta/high beta ratios were seen in the parietal region. Quantitative EEG neuromarkers of chronic pain are suggested.

Recent research on the neuropsychology of emotion and pain has indicated that emotion and pain are complex processes that may substantially influence each other. Disorders of negative emotion and pain are known to co-occur (Delgado, 2004); however, it is not clear whether negative emotional conditions lead to pain or whether increased pain experiences lead to negative emotion. Further, certain negative emotions, such as hostility or anger, may produce differential effects on the experience of pain, such that they may lead to an increase in pain or a decrease in pain. An increase or decrease in pain perception may lead to altered behavioral, cognitive, and neuropsychological effects in high hostility. In order to more clearly examine the aforementioned relationships, the current experiment examined auditory emotion perception before and after cold pressor pain in high and low hostile men. Additionally, quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was used to measure changes in cerebral activation as a result of auditory emotion perception and cold pressor pain. Results indicated that identification of emotion post-cold pressor differed as a function of hostility level and ear. The high hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the right ear after cold pressor exposure, while the low hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the left ear after cold pressor exposure. Primary QEEG findings indicated increased left temporal activation after cold pressor exposure and increased reactivity to cold pressor pain in the high hostile group. Low hostile men had a bilateral increase in high beta magnitude at the temporal lobes and a bilateral increase in delta magnitude at the frontal lobes after the cold pressor. Results suggest decreased cerebral laterality and left hemisphere activation for emotional and pain processing in high hostile men. / Ph. D.

An important clinical research question to be answered in the field of neurofeedback (NF) is whether amplitude training affects connectivity between cortical sites. This study hypothesizes that, following NF amplitude training, there will be a difference in QEEG coherence and phase measures between NF training done using referential montages and using sequential montages. The study examined case files of 16 adult clients from the University of North Texas Neurotherapy Lab who had received NF training that consisted of either referential or sequential placement amplitude training (no coherence training) and who received both pre- and post- treatment QEEGs. Sixty-eight percent of the cases consisted of referential placements, while 34% of the cases consisted of sequential placements. All frontal site phase and coherence abnormal z-scores at pre-treatment were converted to deviation scores and compared by general linear model analysis of variance to post-treatment deviation scores. Effect size r-values and eta square values indicate that differences between referential and sequential electrode placements after NF amplitude training are moderately high. This study shows that referential placements tend to increase phase scores and decrease coherence scores, while sequential placements tend to decrease phase scores and increase coherence scores.

Diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is challenging and is currently, diagnosis through self-administered checklists. Because a diagnosis of PTSD can open up significant benefits to compensation, education, and medical care, people can tailor their responses to the checklist to help ensure a diagnosis of PTSD. The purpose of the study was to examine the utility of the quantitative electroencephalograph for diagnosing PTSD. Frequency and presence of biomarkers and alpha brain wave symmetry in the frontal and parietal lobes were examined. Research questions involved examining the presence of alpha wave imbalance across the frontal lobe and between the right and left parietal lobes. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from 108 subjects; these data included records from those with and without a PTSD diagnosis. The results of logistic regression showed that 63% of the clients diagnosed with PTSD were correctly identified and between 7% and 8% of the variance in PTSD was accounted for by frontal lobe asymmetry. The parietal lobe imbalance correctly classified PTSD in 59% of the patients and it identified 3.5–4.9% of the variance, suggesting that asymmetry in the frontal and parietal lobes should not be used as the primary method for diagnosing PTSD. Implications for social change include identifying an objective diagnostic tool that can potentially decrease the possibility of inaccurate diagnoses based on self-reported symptoms. This could lead to eliminating some of the shame and embarrassment veterans and first responders feel toward seeking help for PTSD.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disorder of young adulthood and is often associated with cognitive impairment and emotional dysfunction. Due to the nature of the disease, the cognitive deficits in MS are often variable in their presentation, and consist of deficits in processing speed, attention, working memory, and executive functioning. The purpose of the present study was to explore common methods of documenting MS-related cognitive deficits, to elucidate the relationship between the cognitive deficits seen in MS and physiological markers of cognitive functioning (i.e., quantitative EEG), and to analyze the relationship between cognitive deficits and mood dysfunction in MS. There were 26 participants diagnosed with remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis and 18 age, sex, and education matched controls. Results of cognitive testing indicated deficits in gross cognitive functioning, language, attention, processing speed, working memory, and executive functioning. A MANOVA encompassing group, task (PASAT and SPT) and load (light and heavy) showed significant group and load effects, but no main effect of task. The MS group performed worse than the controls and both groups performed better on the light load than the heavy load. Post hoc analysis indicated that performance on the PASAT 3 second trial was worse than on the PASAT 2 second trail compared to controls. Given that the PASAT 3 trial is theoretically easier than the PASAT 2 trial and that the PASAT 3 was administered first, the above results likely reflect learning effects. A Repeated Measures ANCOVA encompassing EEG and cognitive data (PASAT and SPT) indicated group-level differences on task performance, and suggested that at rest mean peak alpha frequency (PAF) is associated with performance on the PASAT, but not the SPT. EEG coherence during cognitive tasks was reduced between short-range connections in the theta, alpha, and beta frequency bins and enhanced in a limited number of long-range, anterior to posterior connections in the theta frequency bin in the MS group compared to controls. Finally, the MS participants had significantly more symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to normal controls. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis suggested that cognitive functioning is deleteriously affected by depression and anxiety. Overall, the results of this study substantiate the feasibility of utilizing QEEG as a physiological indicator of cognitive and cortical dysfunction in MS and show the importance of recognizing depression and anxiety and their contributions to cognitive deficits in individuals with MS.

Executive functions, potentially including the regulatory control of emotions and expressive fluency (verbal or design), have historically been associated with the frontal lobes. Moreover, research has demonstrated the importance of cerebral laterality with a prominent role of the right frontal regions in the regulation of negative affect (anger, hostility) and in the generation or fluent production of designs rather than verbal fluency (left frontal). In the present research, participants identified with high and with low levels of hostility were evaluated on a design fluency test twice in one experimental session. Before the second administration of the fluency test, each participant underwent the cold pressor stressor. EEG data collection took place before and after each experimental manipulation. It was hypothesized that diminished right frontal capacity in high hostiles would be evident through lowered performance on this cognitive stressor. Convergent validity of the "capacity model" was partially supported wherein high hostile men evidenced reduced delta magnitude over the right frontal region after exposure to a physiological stressor but failed to maintain consistent levels of right cerebral activation across conditions. The results suggest an inability for high hostile men to maintain stable levels of cerebral activation with stress after exposure to physiological and cognitive stress. Moreover, low hostiles showed enhanced cognitive performance on the design task with lower levels of arousal (heightened delta magnitude). In contrast, reduced arousal (heightened delta magnitude) yielded increased executive deficits in high hostiles as evidenced through increased perseverative errors on the design fluency task. / Ph. D.

Brain Activation Sequences Abstract INTRODUCTION: This research goes beyond the EEG source localization up to the field of brain connectivity in an attempt to create software tool that eases diagnostic procedures in selected nosologic units by discriminating between patients and healthy controls. METHODS: Experiment 1 - a group of 26 adult patients (14 male, 12 female) suffering from NC and 10 adult controls (5 male, 5 female) participated in the experiment. The experiment contained audio recordings designed to trigger laughter in participants during the EEG recording. Experiment 2 - twenty eight female inpatients diagnosed with ED and ten healthy controls were selected and presented with various stimuli while the EEG was recorded. The Brain Activation Sequences method, applied to all recordings, utilizes nonlinear differential model structure to calculate final output sequence of the brain locations involved substantially in the stimulus processing. RESULTS: Experiment 1 - the BAS results show statistically significant differences in activity between patients and controls namely in gyrus orbitalis, rectus, occipitalis inferior (right), occipitalis medius (right), paracentralis, cinguli, cuneus (right) and parahippocampalis (left). Experiment 2 - the results confirm significant differences in processing the...