Análise estatística do eletrocorticograma durante o fenômeno da depressão alastrante em córtex cerebral de ratos nutridos e desnutridos

Abstract

The Cortical Spreading Depression (CSD) was described as a wave of electric cortical activity suppression in reply to cortical stimulation. In this work we investigate the dynamics of the cerebral activity, registered in the electrocorticogram (ECoG), from the fractal dimension of the space of phase and the coefficient of Hurst (parameter that indicates the memory presence) of the ECoG. ECoG' s had been extracellularly recorded in the cerebral cortex of nourished and malnourished rats and analysed with a PC-compatible microcomputer. In the signal of the ECoG can be observed that after the stimulation occurred an increase, during few milliseconds, of the cortical electric activity (called avalanche phenomenon), followed of a depression of this electric activity for levels lower than normal electric activity of the cortex (called cortical spreading depression - CSD phenomenon). After some minutes the cortical electric activity returns to its level of normality, that one observed before the cortical stimulation. To carry through an analysis statistics of the time series of the cortical electric activity (ECoG), two parameters had been used: (i) the fractal dimension (D)of the space of phase of ECoG and (ii) coefficient H of R/S analysis of Hurst, parameter that identifies long-range correlation (memory) in time series. During the phenomenon of the avalanche the values of the fractal dimension of the space of phase (D =1,34 ± 0,06, n= 30, for nourished animals and D= 1,31 ± 0.07, n= 32, in animals malnourished) and of the memory (H =0,52 ± 0,13, n= 30, in nourished animals and H= 0,61±0,21, n= 32, in animals malnourished) were significantly different of the values of those parameters as before (D = 1,27 ± 0,10, n= 41 and H = 0,32 ± 0,07, n= 41, for nourished animals and D= 1,18 ± 0,14, n=29 and H = 0,44 ± 0,13, n= 29 , in animals malnourished) as after the CSD (D = 1,28 ± 0,10, n= 39 and H = 0,35 ± 0,10, n= 39, for nourished animals and D= 1,15 ± 0,15, n= 30 and H = 0,43 ± 0,13, n= 30, in animals malnourished). The Shapiro-Wilks test discloses that the parameters D and H do not follow a normal distribution. Thus a non-parametric test of Kruskal-Wallis and the post-hoc test of Dunn were used in the statistic analysis. That analysis showed that in nourished animals the fractal dimension of the space of phase of the ECoG in the avalanche is different of the fractal dimension (before and after the CSD), with equal levels of significance, p≤ 0,01. The coefficientH of the ECoG in the avalanche differs also from the H´s (before of the CSD andafter the CSD), with equal levels of significance, p≤ 0,001. For the malnourished animals the parameters D and H in avalanche differs significantly from values also before and after the CSD. When animals nourished and malnourished were compared, significant differences had been observed between the values of the parameters D and H only before of the CSD. In conclusion, the electric activity of the cerebral cortex of rats nourished and malnourished during the phenomenon of the spreading depression is a chaotic, reversible process and presents memory.