The development of methods of prevention of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) severe consequences, such as acute stroke, neurodegeneration and vascular dementia, requires defi ning of the most sensitive and stable indicators of cerebral circulation conditions, in particular, values of EEG parameters in a diff erent number/quality of brain asymptomatic lesions, by which the cSVD burden are determined.

To investigate cerebral electrogenic peculiarities in patients with a diff erent number/quality of MRI markers of cSVD, a prospective study of EEG parameters was performed in 40 patients (mean age 62.51 ± 1.38 years old) with MRI signs of cSVD and without history of stroke and in 10 patients (mean age 67.38 ± 3.85 years old) with a history of stroke (more than 2 years).

In patients with a high cSVD burden (4 points), all studied quantitative EEG characteristics were not only signifi cantly different from those in patients with a history of stroke, but rather resembled the stage preceding a symptomatic stroke. The growing of the cSVD burden was clearly refl ected in the values of δ- and α-indices correlating with the rate of cerebral blood fl ow. An increasing of the number of brain asymptomatic lesions was associated with a linear decreasing of spectral density of the α-band (r = –0.73). For each 1 point of increasing of cSVD burden, a decrease of α/δ-coeffi cient on average by 45 % (p < 0.001) occurred. There was a tendency of BSI increasing with an increase of a number of MRI-signs of the disease.

Although silent brain infarcts, white matter lesions, and cerebral microbleeds have no thunderous symptoms, during cSVD progress, morphostructural changes could result in worsening of brain functional conditions, in particular the bioelectric activity level, and this worsening could be as severe as one after a symptomatic stroke. Thus, the δ- and α-indices, as well as α/δ-ratio and spectral density of oscillations in the α-band, could be considered as EEG-correlates of the cSVD burden.