Oxidative Stress and Electroencephalography (EEG): Unravelling the Impact on Brain Wave Patterns: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Oxidative stress, resulting from an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and antioxidant defenses, profoundly impacts brain function due to the brain's high oxygen consumption and lipid-rich environment. This review explores how oxidative stress affects EEG patterns and its implications for understanding neurological diseases. ROS overproduction leads to neuronal damage through mitochondrial dysfunction, lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, and DNA damage. EEG, a non-invasive method to measure brain electrical activity, reveals distinct brainwave patterns (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) that can be altered by oxidative stress. Oxidative stress modifies EEG patterns by reducing magnesium levels in cerebrospinal fluid, disrupting calcium balance, and impairing mitochondrial function. This results in increased slow-wave activity, disrupted alpha rhythms, and heightened beta and gamma activities, indicating cortical hyperexcitability and impaired brain connectivity. Various neurological conditions, including epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, exhibit these EEG changes linked to oxidative stress. Studies show correlations between oxidative stress and altered EEG patterns in conditions such as epilepsy, sleep deprivation, and stress. For instance, paradoxical sleep deprivation and cognitive stressors increase oxidative stress, leading to EEG alterations. Conversely, reducing oxidative stress through antioxidants can improve EEG patterns. This review synthesizes current literature to provide a comprehensive understanding of how oxidative stress affects EEG patterns, highlighting the need for further research to uncover underlying mechanisms and improve diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions linked to oxidative stress.