QEEG and VARETA based Neurophysiological Indices of Brain Dysfunction in Attention Deficit and Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Quantitative Electroencephalogram (QEEG) and EEG source localization were used to describe the patho-physiological nature of brain dysfunction in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). QEEG frequency analyses revealed 4 subtypes that differed both in severity of abnormality and relative frequency of occurrence in both disorders but do not clarify distinctive neural networks associated within each of the disorders. Multivariate discriminant analyses proved to be effective in discriminating clinical groups from normal and from each other with high levels of sensitivity and specificity. EEG source localization indicted that ADHD was characterized by functional abnormality within the thalamus, hippocampus, caudate nucleus, and anterior cingulate, frontal/striatal, temporal, and parietal regions bilaterally and ASD by functional abnormality within the thalamus, hippocampus, caudate nucleus, and posterior cingulate, supramarginal gyrus, lateral and medial occipital/temporal, superior parietal, and occipital cortical regions bilaterally.