EEG spectral analysis in newborns with and without severe brain damage at different conceptional ages. A preliminary report.

Spectral power (SP) analysis of neonatal discontinuous EEG pattern of bilateral Fp-T and T-0 derivations has been performed in 5 newborns with no or mild brain damage and in 5 newborns with severe brain damage matched for conceptional age (30-39, week). Discontinuous EEG was separated in interburst and burst intervals. SP of all frequency bands was depressed in newborns with severe brain damage, with the depression being more pronounced during interburst intervals. Surprisingly, a prominent depression of the SP of the derivations of the right hemisphere and of the delta frequency bands of severely handicapped newborns was found. Calculation of coherence between homologous bipolar derivations does not improve the possibilities to separate both groups.