Asymptomatic HIV-Infected Women: Preliminary Study of Quantitative EEG Activity and Performance on a Continuous Performance Test

Abstract

Several studies have examined the electrophysiological correlates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in medically asymptomatic men. Although the rates of HIV infection are increasing at a greater rate in women than men, there have been no publications to date of electrophysiological functioning in HIV-infected women. In the present study, quantitative electroencephalographic (qEEG) activity was measured in 22 women (11 asymptomatic HIV-seropositive and 11 HIV-seronegative) utilizing a procedure comprised of three auditory continuous performance tests and a set of qEEG components derived from principal components analysis. No significant group differences were found in qEEG or in performance on the continuous performance tests; however, task-related differences were detected across groups between simple and complex language tasks in EEG fast beta power, delta power, and a left-hemisphere principal components analysis-derived EEG component. In examining the electrophysiological correlates of HIV infection, researchers might employ a similar methodology while increasing the sample size and varying the task modality or difficulty.

A Quantitative Electroencephalographic Correlate of Sustained Attention Processing

“…Although previous attempts at developing a neurophysiological measure of sustained human performance have produced solutions that have better informed research on the sustained attention process (Arruda et al, 1996;Arruda et al, 1999), such solutions have typically possessed a number of technical limitations that have reduced their usefulness-particularly as a clinical diagnostic tool (Costa et al, 1997).…”

“…Despite its psychometric strengths, the qEEG measure developed by Arruda and colleagues still possesses a number of limitations that reduce its usefulness as a theoretical and/or clinical diagnostic tool (Costa, Arruda, Stern, Somerville, & Valentino, 1997). For example, due to the instrument limitations in earlier studies conducted by this group EEG activity was sampled from a limited number of scalp sites using a bipolar recording montage that included only frontal, fronto-temporal, temporal, and temporo-occipital regions of the cerebral cortex.…”

HIV, Cognition and Women

“…They found no significant differences in neuropsychological performance, but noted the possibility that the tests administered were not necessarily adequately sensitive to any neurocognitive impairments among this small sample of women with no symptoms of disease. A related study by this team of investigators focused primarily on EEG but also noted no differences between the two groups on a continuous performance test (Costa et al 1997). …”