EEG Evidence of Altered Functional Connectivity and Microstate in Children Orphaned by HIV/AIDS

• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.898716
• Publication Date: 2022-06-29T05:37:10Z
• Authors: Huang Gu; Xueke Shan; Hui He; Junfeng Zhao; Xiaoming Li
• Keywords: Psychiatry; mechanisms; early life stress; functional connectivity; 150; RC435-571; salience; disorder; organization; 3. Good health; schizophrenia; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; resting-state; networks; children orphaned by HIV/AIDS; 616; microstate; childhood poverty; activation; early-life stress; Public Health Education and Promotion; metaanalysis

Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS (“AIDS orphans”) suffer numerous early-life adverse events which have a long-lasting effect on brain function. Although previous studies found altered electroencephalography (EEG) oscillation during resting state in children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, data are limited regarding the alterations in connectivity and microstate. The current study aimed to investigate the functional connectivity (FC) and microstate in children orphaned by HIV/AIDS with resting-state EEG data. Data were recorded from 63 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and 65 non-orphan controls during a close-eyes resting state. The differences in phase-locking value (PLV) of global average FC and temporal dynamics of microstate were compared between groups. For functional connectivity, children orphaned by HIV/AIDS showed decreased connectivity in alpha, beta, theta, and delta band compared with non-orphan controls. For microstate, EEG results demonstrated that children orphaned by HIV/AIDS show increased duration and coverage of microstate C, decreased occurrence and coverage of microstate B, and decreased occurrence of microstate D than non-orphan controls. These findings suggest that the microstate and functional connectivity has altered in children orphaned by HIV/AIDS compared with non-orphan controls and provide additional evidence that early life stress (ELS) would alter the structure and function of the brain and increase the risk of psychiatric disorders.