Abstract
The effects of hydration and hyperventilation on cortical complexity were investigated in a sample of 19 healthy volunteers in a double-blind placebo design using magnetoencephalographic recordings. The subjects were asked to abstain from the intake of liquids 18 h before the study. Spontaneous magnetoencephalograms (MEG) were recorded before and after drinking 750 ml water (WAT group: nine subjects) or saline solution (SAL group: ten subjects) with eyes closed and open and during hyperventilation (HV) with eyes open. The MEG data were analysed using both linear (spectral power) and non-linear (pointwise dimension and largest Lyapunov exponent) algorithms. The prediction that intake of water, because of induced cell swelling, will lead to an increased synchronization and a decreased complexity of the spontaneous MEG during hyperventilation was confirmed. Hyperventilation following the drinking condition produced an increase in all power spectra with a stronger increase of delta and theta power after drinking of water. This synchronization of spontaneous MEG is accompanied by a general significant decrease of cortical complexity, especially after water drinking. Moreover, cortical complexity was inversely related to delta and theta power and partly also to alpha power. The SAL and WAT groups showed different relations between alpha power and dimensional complexity during HV: whereas in the SAL group the correlations between these measures became more negative during HV, they reversed in the WAT group to become positive. The synchronizing effect of hyperventilation, leading to a decrease of cortical complexity, is related in the SAL group to delta, theta and alpha power, whereas in the WAT group only delta and theta activity contribute to a reduction of cortical complexity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrew RD (1991) Seizure and acute osmotic change: clinical and neurophysiological aspects. J Neurol Sci 101:7–18
Anokhin AP, Birbaumer N, Lutzenberger W, Nikolaev A, Vogel F (1996) Age increases brain complexity. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 99:63–68
Ashby WR (1958) Requisite variety and implications for control of complex systems. Cybernetica 1:83–99
Babloyantz A, Destexhe A (1986) Low dimensional chaos in an instance of epilepsy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 83:3513–3517
Bednarczyk EM, Rutherford WF, Leisure GP, Munger MA, Panacek EA, Miraldi FD, Green JA (1990) Hyperventilation-induced reduction in cerebral blood flow: assessment by positron emission tomography. DICP Ann Pharmacother 24:456–460
Birbaumer N, Elbert T, Canavan AGM, Rockstroh B (1990) Slow potentials of the cerebral cortex and behaviour. Physiol Rev 70:1–41
Birbaumer N, Flor H, Lutzenberger W, Elbert T (1995) Chaos and order in the human brain. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol, Suppl 44:450–459
Briggs K (1990) An improved method for estimating Lyapunov exponents of chaotic time series. Phys Lett A 151:27–32
Canuso CM, Goldman MB (1999) Clozapine restores water balance in schizophrenic patients with polydipsia-hyponatremia syndrome. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 11:86–90
Caspers H, Speckmann E-J (1972) Cerebral pO2, pCO2 and pH: changes during convulsive activity and their significance for spontaneous arrest of seizures. Epilepsia 13:699–725
Caspers H, Speckmann E-J, Lehmenkühler A (1987) DC potentials of the cerebral cortex. Seizure activity and changes in gas pressures. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol 106:127–178
Eckmann JP, Ruelle D (1985) Ergodic theory of chaos and strange attractors. Rev Mod Phys 57:617–656
Elbert T (1993) Slow cortical potentials reflect the regulation of cortical excitability. In: McCallum WC, Curry SH (eds) Slow potential changes in the human brain. Plenum, New York, pp 235–251
Elbert T, Ray WJ, Kowalik ZJ, Skinner JE, Graf KE, Birbaumer N (1994) Chaos and physiology: deterministic chaos in excitable cell assemblies. Physiol Rev 74:1–47
Elisaf M, Merkouropoulos M, Tsianos EV, Siamopoulos KC (1994) Acid-base and electrolyte abnormalities in alcoholic patients. Miner Electrol Metab 20:274–281
Ellner S (1988) Estimating attractor dimensions from limited data: a new method, with error estimates. Phys Lett A 133:128–133
Feng Y, Müller V, Friedrich B, Risler T, Lang F (2001) Clinical significance of cell volume regulation. Wien Klin Wochenschr 113:477–484
Fitzsimons JT (1998) Angiotensin, thirst and sodium appetite. Physiol Rev 78:583–686
Goldman MB, Robertson GL, Hedeker D (1996a) Oropharyngeal regulation of water balance in polydipsic schizophrenics. Clin Endocrinol Oxf 44:31–37
Goldman MB, Robertson GL, Luchins DJ, Hedeker D (1996b) The influence of polydipsia on water excretion in hyponatremic, polydipsic, schizophrenic patients. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 81:1465–1470
Goldman MB, Robertson GL, Luchins DJ, Hedeker D, Pandey GN (1997) Psychotic exacerbations and enhanced vasopressin secretion in schizophrenic patients with hyponatremia and polydipsia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 54:443–449
Grassberger P, Procaccia I (1983) Measuring the strangeness of strange attractors. Physica D 9:189–208
Hale PM, Rezvani I, Braunstein AW, Lipman TH, Martinez N, Garibaldi L (1997) Factors predicting cerebral edema in young children with diabetic ketoacidosis and new onset type I diabetes. Acta Paediatr 86:626–631
Häussinger D, Laubenberger J, Vom Dahl S, Ernst T, Bayer S, Langer M, Gerok W, Hennig J (1994) Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies on human brain myo-inositol in hypoosmolarity and hepatic encephalopathy. Gastroenterology 107:1475–1480
Hebb DO (1949) The organization of behavior. A neuropsychological theory. John Wiley & Sons, New York
Hirschl MM, Derfler K, Bieglmayer C, Roggla H, Zeiner A, Seidler D, Laggner AN (1994) Hormonal derangements in patients with severe alcohol intoxication. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 18:761–166
Houpt KA (1991) Feeding and drinking behavior problems. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 21:281–298
Iasemidis LD, Sackellares JC (1991) The temporal evolution of the largest Lyapunov exponent on the human epileptic cortex. In: Duke DW, Pritchard WS (eds) Measuring chaos in the human brain. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 49–82
Iasemidis LD, Sackellares JC, Zaveri HP, Williams WJ (1990) Phase space topography and the Lyapunov exponent of electrocorticograms in partial seizures. Brain Topogr 2:187–201
Iwasaki Y, Kondo K, Murase T, Hasegawa H, Oiso Y (1996) Osmoregulation of plasma vasopressin in diabetes mellitus with sustained hyperglycemia. J Neuroendocrinol 8:755–760
Jordan E, Shannon JR, Grogan E, Biaggioni I, Robertson D (1999) A potent pressor response elicited by drinking water. Lancet 353:723
Kaufman FR (1997) Diabetes mellitus. Pediatr Rev 18:383–392
Klimesch W (1999) EEG alpha and theta oscillations reflect cognitive and memory performance: a review and analysis. Brain Res Rev 29:169–195
Kraaier V, Van Huffelen AC, Wieneke GH, Van der Worp HB, Bar PR (1992) Quantitative EEG changes due to cerebral vasoconstriction. Indomethacin versus hyperventilation-induced reduction in cerebral blood flow in normal subjects. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 82:208–212
Kreis R, Farrow N, Ross BD (1991) Localized 1H NMR spectroscopy in patients with chronic hepatic encephalopathy. Analysis of changes in cerebral glutamine, choline and inositols. NMR Biomed 4:109–116
Kreis R, Ross BD, Farrow NA, Ackerman Z (1992) Metabolic disorders of the brain in chronic hepatic encephalopathy detected with H-1 MR spectroscopy. Radiology 182:19–27
Lang F, Busch GL, Ritter M, Volkl H, Waldegger S, Gulbins E, Haussinger D (1998) Functional significance of cell volume regulatory mechanisms. Physiol Rev 78:247–306
Lutzenberger W (1997) EEG alpha dynamics as viewed from EEG dimension dynamics. Int J Psychophysiol 26:273–283
Lutzenberger W, Birbaumer N, Flor H, Rockstroh B, Elbert T (1992a) Dimensional analysis of the human EEG and intelligence. Neurosci Lett 143:10–14
Lutzenberger W, Elbert T, Birbaumer N, Ray WJ, Schupp H (1992b) The scalp distribution of the fractal dimension of the EEG and its variation with mental tasks. Brain Topogr 5:27–34
Lutzenberger W, Preißl H, Pulvermüller F (1995) Fractal dimension of electroencephalographic time series and underlying brain processes. Biol Cybern 73:477–482
Macefield G, Burke D (1991) Paraesthesiae and tetany induced by voluntary hyperventilation. Increased excitability of human cutaneous and motor axons. Brain 114:527–540
Mayer-Kress G (1998) Non-linear mechanisms in the brain. Z Naturforsch [C] 53:677–685
McNair DM, Lorr M, Doppleman LF (1971) The profile of mood states (POMS). San Diego
Mölle M, Marshall L, Lutzenberger W, Pietrowsky R, Fehm HL, Born J (1996) Enhanced dynamic complexity in the human EEG during creative thinking. Neurosci Lett 208:61–64
Mölle M, Marshall L, Wolf B, Fehm HL, Born J (1999) Enhanced dynamic complexity in the human EEG during creative thinking. Psychophysiology 36:95–104
Müller V, Kotchoubey B, Schick A, Perelmouter J, Reckhardt C, Lutzenberger W, Birbaumer N (2001a) Effects of disturbing auditory noise on the complexity of electrocortical activity. Int J Bifurcation Chaos 11:1159–1167
Müller V, Lutzenberger W, Pulvermüller F, Mohr B, Birbaumer N (2001b) Investigation of brain dynamics in Parkinson's disease by methods derived from nonlinear dynamics. Exp Brain Res 137:103–110
Müller V, Birbaumer N, Preißl H, Braun C, Lang F (2002) Effects of water on cortical excitability in humans. Eur J Neurosci 15:528–538
Norenberg MD (1994) Astrocyte responses to CNS injury. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 53:213–220
Norenberg MD, Bender AS (1994) Astrocyte swelling in liver failure: role of glutamine and benzodiazepines. Acta Neurochir 60:24–27
Osehobo EP, Andrew RD (1993) Osmotic effects upon the theta rhythm, a natural brain oscillation in the hippocampal slice. Exp Neurol 124:192–199
Patel VM, Maulsby RL (1987) How hyperventilation alters the electroencephalogram: a review of controversial viewpoints emphasizing neurophysiological mechanisms. J Clin Neurophysiol 4:101–120
Posse S, Olthoff U, Weckesser M, Jancke L, Muller GH, Dager SR (1997) Regional dynamic signal changes during controlled hyperventilation assessed with blood oxygen level-dependent functional MR imaging. Am J Neuroradiol 18:1763–1770
Pritchard WS, Duke DW (1992) Measuring chaos in the brain: a tutorial review of nonlinear dynamical EEG analysis. Int J Neurosci 67:31–80
Pritchard WS, Duke DW (1997) Segregation of the thalamic alpha rhythms from cortical alpha activity using the Savit-Green S-statistic and estimated correlation dimension. Int J Psychophysiol 26:263–271
Robertson GL (1992) Regulation of vasopressin secretion. In: Seldin DW, Giebisch G (eds) The kidney. Physiology and pathophysiology, 2nd edn. Raven, New York, pp 1595–1614
Rockstroh B (1990) Hyperventilation-induced EEG changes in humans and their modulation by an anticonvulsant drug. Epilepsy Res 7:146–154
Rowntree LG (1923) Water intoxication. Arch Int Med 32:157–174
Rowntree LG (1926) The effects on mammals of the administration of excessive quantities of water. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 29:135–159
Santonastaso P, Sala A, Favaro A (1998) Water intoxication in anorexia nervosa: a case report. Int J Eat Disord 24:439–442
Schupp HT, Lutzenberger W, Birbaumer N, Miltner W, Braun C (1994) Neurophysiological differences between perception and imagery. Cogn Brain Res 2:77–86
Skinner JE, Pratt CM, Vybiral T (1993) A reduction in the correlation dimension of heart beat intervals precedes imminent ventricular fibrillation in human subjects. Am Heart J 125:731–743
Strogatz SH (2001) Exploring complex networks. Nature 410:268–276
Takens F (1981) Detecting strange attractors in turbulence. In: Lecture notes in mathematics, vol 898. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Tirsch WS, Keidel M, Perz S, Scherb H, Sommer G (2000) Inverse covariation of spectral density and correlation dimension in cyclic EEG dynamics of the human brain. Biol Cybern 82:1–14
Tononi G, Edelman GM (1998) Consciousness and complexity. Science 282:1846–1851
Vamvakas S, Teschner M, Bahner U, Heidland A (1998) Alcohol abuse: potential role in electrolyte disturbances and kidney diseases. Clin Nephrol 49:205–213
Vandenhouten R (1998) Analyse instationärer Zeitreihen komplexer Systeme und Anwendung in der Physiologie. Shaker, Aachen
Vieweg V, Pandurangi A, Levenson J, Silverman J (1994) The consulting psychiatrist and the polydipsia-hyponatremia syndrome in schizophrenia. Int J Psychiatry Med 24:275–303
Warren SE, Steinberg SM (1979) Acid-base and electrolyte disturbances in anorexia nervosa. Am J Psychiatry 136:415–428
Weckesser M, Posse S, Olthoff U, Kemna L, Dager S, Muller GH (1999) Functional imaging of the visual cortex with bold-contrast MRI: hyperventilation decreases signal response. Magn Reson Med 41:213–216
Wolf A, Swift JB, Swinney HL, Vastano A (1985) Determining Lyapunov exponents from a time series. Physica D 16:285–317
World MJ, Ryle PR, Thomson AD (1985) Alcoholic malnutrition and the small intestine. Alcohol Alcohol 20:89–124
Yamatani M, Konishi T, Murakami M, Okuda T (1995) Hyperventilation activation on EEG recording in children with epilepsy. Pediatr Neurol 13:42–45
Zwiener U, Lobel S, Rother M, Funke M (1998) Quantitative topographical analysis of EEG during nonstandardized and standardized hyperventilation. J Clin Neurophysiol 15:521–528
Acknowledgements
The study was supported by the Fortuene program of Universitätsklinikum Tuebingen (No. 775-0-0) and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The authors are grateful to J. Dax for assistance with the software and to C. Provenzani for assistance with blood samples. We also thank Daniel de Wet for language correction.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Müller, V., Birbaumer, N., Preißl, H. et al. Effects of hydration and hyperventilation on cortical complexity. Exp Brain Res 150, 341–355 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-003-1425-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-003-1425-5