The Association Between Head Cooling and Cognition, EEG Patterns, Neuroinflammatory Cytokines, and Mental Health

open_access
Open Access
Author:
Cooney, Laura
Area of Honors:
Biology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Semyon Slobounov, Thesis Supervisor
C. Guilherme Becker, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Selective brain cooling
neuroinflammation
mental health
EEG patterns
Abstract:
Selective brain cooling (SBC) has attracted increasing attention within traumatic brain injury research in the last decade, including in the realm of psychological symptom relief. Previous research has shown that SBC after traumatic brain injury can assist in temporary symptom relief, increasing cerebral blood flow, and reducing motor deficits. It can otherwise decrease neuroinflammation in cases of brain inflammation due to stroke or without separate etiology. However, the effects of SBC on mental health markers in individuals unaffected by injury are currently unknown. We implemented a one-week regimen of brain cooling (n=12) and assessed cognitive function, mental health status, electroencephalography (EEG) patterns, and neuroinflammatory cytokine concentrations pre-intervention, acutely post-intervention, and longitudinally post-intervention as compared to control subjects (n=12). Given the associations between EEG patterns, anxiety disorders, and neuroinflammatory cytokines, we expected to see a significant reduction in anxious mood, high beta EEG frequency, and neuroinflammatory cytokine concentrations, as well as an increase in alpha EEG frequency in the brain cooling group after intervention. We conducted the study and found that the brain cooling group displayed a significantly greater change in relative alpha EEG % after acute brain cooling, as revealed by performing a series of t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests. While both groups experienced reduced depression after a one-week intervention period, the brain cooling group showed a significantly greater symptom reduction. ANCOVA analysis revealed a significant effect of the interaction of group and rate of change of relative beta % on the rate of change in anxiety score after acute brain cooling or rest. Group and mental health diagnosis also had a significant interaction effect on several EEG parameters. Neither group showed a change in neuroinflammatory cytokine concentration, which may have been due to participant noncompliance in the form of alcohol consumption, or to dietary changes. Overall, the study indicates that brain cooling may be useful in reducing depression symptoms and promoting brain activity related to relaxation in those with anxiety disorders. Additional research on SBC, including a longer intervention period and larger sample size, is recommended to confirm the findings of this exploratory study.