THE EEG IN ACALLOSAL CHILDREN - COHERENCE VALUES IN THE RESTING STATE- LEFT-HEMISPHERE COMPENSATORY MECHANISM

Resting EEG interhemispheric and intrahemispheric coherences (ICoh and HCoh) in the theta, alpha and beta bands were studied in 7 patients w ith agenesis of the corpus callosum (5 children, aged 10-14 years, and 2 adults) and 2 groups of sex- and age-matched normal children and ad ults (42 subjects). In patients the ICohs (F3/F4, C3/C4, P3/P4, O1/O2) were lower than in the normal sample. The ICoh decrease, correspondin g with the completeness of commissural agenesis, showed the essential role of the corpus callosum in interhemispheric EEG synchronization. A remarkable new fact was found, namely lower right hemisphere HCoh in the acallosal patients in comparison to the normals, suggesting reduce d connectivity of the right hemisphere. It is assumed that the deviant HCoh patterns in the patients, most pronounced in the beta band, are indicative of compensatory left hemisphere mechanisms, accounting for a specific brain plasticity phenomenon in acallosal subjects.