Nonlinear aspects of the EEG during sleep in children

Electroencephalograph (EEG) analysis enables the dynamic behavior of the brain to be examined. If the behavior is nonlinear then nonlinear tools can be used to glean information on brain behavior, and aid in the diagnosis of sleep abnormalities such as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). In this paper the sleep EEGs of a set of normal children and children with mild OSAS are evaluated for nonlinear brain behaviour. We found that there were differences in the nonlinearity of the brain behaviour between different sleep stages, and between the two groups of children.