Similarities in precursory features in seismic shocks and epileptic seizures

¹ Solid State Section, Physics Department, University of Athens - Athens, Greece
² CERCIA, School of Computer Science, The University of Birmingham Birmingham, UK

Received: 5 October 2004
Accepted: 9 December 2004

Abstract

Theoretical studies suggest that the final earthquake (EQ) and neural-seizure dynamics should have many similar features and could be analyzed within similar mathematical frameworks. Herein, by monitoring the temporal evolution of the fractal spectral characteristics in EEG time series and pre-seismic electromagnetic (EM) time series we show that many similar distinctive symptoms (including common alterations in associated scaling parameters) emerge as epileptic seizures (ES) and EQs are approaching. These alterations reveal a gradual reduction of complexity as the catastrophic events approach. The transition from anti-persistent to persistent behaviour may indicate that the onset of a severe crisis is imminent. The observations find a unifying explanation within the school of the “Intermittent Criticality”.