Nature and Science of Sleep (May 2022)

Electroencephalography Theta/Beta Ratio Decreases in Patients with Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea

  • Li J,
  • You J,
  • Yin G,
  • Xu J,
  • Zhang Y,
  • Yuan X,
  • Chen Q,
  • Ye J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 1021 – 1030

Abstract

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Jingjing Li,1 Jingyuan You,2 Guoping Yin,1 Jinkun Xu,1 Yuhuan Zhang,1 Xuemei Yuan,1 Qiang Chen,1 Jingying Ye1,3 1Department of Otorhinopharyngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Institute of Precision Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jingying Ye, Department of Otorhinopharyngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Litang Road 168, Beijing, 102218, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-13701396970, Email [email protected]: Accumulating evidence suggests that theta/beta ratio (TBR), an electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency band parameter, might serve as an objective marker of executive cognitive control in healthy adults. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has a detrimental impact on patients’ behavior and cognitive performance while whether TBR is different in OSA population has not been reported. This study aimed to explore the difference in relative EEG spectral power and TBR during sleep between patients with severe OSA and non-OSA groups.Patients and Methods: 142 participants with in-laboratory nocturnal PSG recording were included, among which 100 participants suffered severe OSA (apnea hypopnea index, AHI > 30 events/hour; OSA group) and 42 participants had no OSA (AHI ≤ 5 events/h; control group). The fast Fourier transformation was used to compute the EEG power spectrum for total sleep duration within contiguous 30-second epochs of sleep. The demographic and polysomnographic characteristics, relative EEG spectral power and TBR of the two groups were compared.Results: It was found that the beta band power during NREM sleep and total sleep was significantly higher in the OSA group than controls (p < 0.001, p = 0.012, respectively), and the theta band power during NREM sleep and total sleep was significantly lower in the OSA group than controls (p = 0.019, p = 0.014, respectively). TBR during NREM sleep, REM sleep and total sleep was significantly lower in the OSA group compared to the control group (p < 0.001 for NREM sleep and total sleep, p = 0.015 for REM sleep). TBR was negatively correlated with AHI during NREM sleep (r=− 0.324, p < 0.001) and total sleep (r=− 0. 312, p < 0.001).Conclusion: TBR was significantly decreased in severe OSA patients compared to the controls, which was attributed to both increased beta power and decreased theta power. TBR may be a stable EEG-biomarker of OSA patients, which may accurately and reliably identify phenotype of patients.Keywords: sleep electroencephalography, spectral power, frequency band ratio, theta/beta ratio, OSA

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