International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) - EEG research workgroup: Recommendations on frequency and topographic analysis of resting state EEG rhythms. Part 1: Applications in clinical research studies.

In 1999, the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) published "IFCN Guidelines for topographic and frequency analysis of EEGs and EPs" (Nuwer et al., 1999). Here a Workgroup of IFCN experts presents unanimous recommendations on the following procedures relevant for the topographic and frequency analysis of resting state EEGs (rsEEGs) in clinical research defined as neurophysiological experimental studies carried out in neurological and psychiatric patients: (1) recording of rsEEGs (environmental conditions and instructions to participants; montage of the EEG electrodes; recording settings); (2) digital storage of rsEEG and control data; (3) computerized visualization of rsEEGs and control data (identification of artifacts and neuropathological rsEEG waveforms); (4) extraction of "synchronization" features based on frequency analysis (band-pass filtering and computation of rsEEG amplitude/power density spectrum); (5) extraction of "connectivity" features based on frequency analysis (linear and nonlinear measures); (6) extraction of "topographic" features (topographic mapping; cortical source mapping; estimation of scalp current density and dura surface potential; cortical connectivity mapping), and (7) statistical analysis and neurophysiological interpretation of those rsEEG features.

Selective recruitment of cortical neurons by electrical stimulation.

Despite its critical importance in experimental and clinical neuroscience, at present there is no systematic method to predict which neural elements will be activated by a given stimulation regime. Here we develop a novel approach to model the effect of cortical stimulation on spiking probability of neurons in a volume of tissue, by applying an analytical estimate of stimulation-induced activation of different cell types across cortical layers. We utilize the morphology and properties of axonal arborization profiles obtained from publicly available anatomical reconstructions of the twelve main categories of neocortical neurons to derive the dependence of activation probability on cell type, layer and distance from the source.

Multi-Scale Neural Sources of EEG: Genuine, Equivalent, and Representative. A Tutorial Review.

A biophysical framework needed to interpret electrophysiological data recorded at multiple spatial scales of brain tissue is developed. Micro current sources at membrane surfaces produce local field potentials, electrocorticography, and electroencephalography (EEG). We categorize multi-scale sources as genuine, equivalent, or representative.

Optical aperture synthesis with electronically connected telescopes.

Highest resolution imaging in astronomy is achieved by interferometry, connecting telescopes over increasingly longer distances and at successively shorter wavelengths. Here, we present the first diffraction-limited images in visual light, produced by an array of independent optical telescopes, connected electronically only, with no optical links between them. With an array of small telescopes, second-order optical coherence of the sources is measured through intensity interferometry over 180 baselines between pairs of telescopes, and two-dimensional images reconstructed.

EEG functional connectivity, axon delays and white matter disease.

Objective: Both structural and functional brain connectivities are closely linked to white matter disease. We discuss several such links of potential interest to neurologists, neurosurgeons, radiologists, and non-clinical neuroscientists.

Methods: Treatment of brains as genuine complex systems suggests major emphasis on the multi-scale nature of brain connectivity and dynamic behavior.

Neocortical dynamics due to axon propagation delays in cortico-cortical fibers: EEG traveling and standing waves with implications for top-down influences on local networks and white matter disease.

The brain is treated as a nested hierarchical complex system with substantial interactions across spatial scales. Local networks are pictured as embedded within global fields of synaptic action and action potentials. Global fields may act top-down on multiple networks, acting to bind remote networks.

Top-down influences on local networks: basic theory with experimental implications.

The response of a population of cortical neurons to an external stimulus depends not only on the receptive field properties of the neurons, but also the level of arousal and attention or goal-oriented cognitive biases that guide information processing. These top-down effects on cortical neurons bias the output of the neurons and affect behavioral outcomes such as stimulus detection, discrimination, and response time. In any physiological study, neural dynamics are observed in a specific brain state; the background state partly determines neuronal excitability.

Screening of transition and post-transition metals to incorporate into copper oxide and copper bismuth oxide for photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution.

A new dispenser and scanner system is used to create and screen Bi-M-Cu oxide arrays for cathodic photoactivity, where M represents 1 of 22 different transition and post-transition metals. Over 3000 unique Bi : M : Cu atomic ratios are screened. Of the 22 metals tested, 10 show a M-Cu oxide with higher photoactivity than CuO and 10 show a Bi-M-Cu oxide with higher photoactivity than CuBi2O4.

Neocortical dynamics at multiple scales: EEG standing waves, statistical mechanics, and physical analogs.

The dynamic behavior of scalp potentials (EEG) is apparently due to some combination of global and local processes with important top-down and bottom-up interactions across spatial scales. In treating global mechanisms, we stress the importance of myelinated axon propagation delays and periodic boundary conditions in the cortical-white matter system, which is topologically close to a spherical shell. By contrast, the proposed local mechanisms are multiscale interactions between cortical columns via short-ranged non-myelinated fibers.

Implications of white matter correlates of EEG standing and traveling waves.

This letter addresses the recent paper titled "White matter architecture rather than cortical surface area correlates with the EEG alpha rhythm" (Valdés-Hernández et al., 2009) and takes issue with some of its conclusions. I suggest here that the standing wave model cited by the authors provides a robust connection to a restricted class of genuine EEG experiments.

EEG and MEG coherence: measures of functional connectivity at distinct spatial scales of neocortical dynamics.

We contrasted coherence estimates obtained with EEG, Laplacian, and MEG measures of synaptic activity using simulations with head models and simultaneous recordings of EEG and MEG. EEG coherence is often used to assess functional connectivity in human cortex. However, moderate to large EEG coherence can also arise simply by the volume conduction of current through the tissues of the head.

Identification of wave-like spatial structure in the SSVEP: comparison of simultaneous EEG and MEG.

Steady-state visual-evoked potentials/fields (SSVEPs/SSVEFs) are used in cognitive and clinical electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalogram (MEG) studies because of their excellent signal-to-noise ratios and relative immunity to artifact. Steady-state paradigms are also used to characterize preferred frequencies of dynamic neocortical processes. In this study, SSVEPs and SSVEFs were simultaneously recorded while subjects viewed checkerboard patterns alternating (black to white, white to black) with fixed driving frequency between 2 and 20 Hz.

Comparison of the effect of volume conduction on EEG coherence with the effect of field spread on MEG coherence.

We analyzed models of volume conduction and magnetic field spread to account for aspects of spatial structure in electroencephalographic (EEG) and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) coherence. The head volume conduction model consisted of three confocal ellipsoids, representing three layers (brain, skull, and scalp) with different tissue conductivities, while the magnetic field model follows from the Biot-Savart law in a spherically symmetric medium. Source models were constructed based on magnetic resonance imaging data from three subjects, approximating neocortical current source distributions as dipoles oriented perpendicular to the local cortical surface.

Source analysis of EEG oscillations using high-resolution EEG and MEG.

We investigated spatial properties of the source distributions that generate scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillations. The inherent complexity of the spatio-temporal dynamics of EEG oscillations indicates that conceptual models that view source activity as consisting only of a few "equivalent dipoles" are inadequate. We present an approach that uses volume conduction models to characterize the distinct spatial filtering of cortical source activity by average reference EEG, high-resolution EEG, and magnetoencephalography (MEG).

A theoretical basis for standing and traveling brain waves measured with human EEG with implications for an integrated consciousness.

Objective: We propose a theoretical framework for EEG and evoked potential studies based on the single postulate that these data are composed of a combination of waves (as this term is used in the physical sciences) and thalamocortical network activity.

Methods: Using known properties of traveling and standing waves, independent of any neocortical dynamic theory, our simple postulate leads to experimental predictions, several of which have now been verified. A mathematical-physiological theory of "brain waves" based on known (but highly idealized) properties of cortical synaptic action and corticocortical fibers is used to support the framework.

Steady-state visual evoked potentials: distributed local sources and wave-like dynamics are sensitive to flicker frequency.

Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) are used in cognitive and clinical studies of brain function because of excellent signal-to-noise ratios and relative immunity to artifacts. SSVEPs also provide a means to characterize preferred frequencies of neocortical dynamic processes. In this study, SSVEPs were recorded with 110 electrodes while subjects viewed random dot patterns flickered between 3 and 30 Hz.

Dynamic sculpting of brain functional connectivity is correlated with performance.

In this study, we examined the relationship between cortical coupling, reflected in event related partial coherence (ERPC) and cognitive processing speed while subjects performed a set of Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM), a task used to measure IQ. Fifty-five participants (29 males) performed a computerized version of the RPM where they were required to identify the shape (probe) that is consistent with a matrix of displayed shapes. Participants indicated a match or non-match by pressing a micro-switch with either the right or left hand.

Fronto-parietal evoked potential synchronization is increased during mental rotation.

We used steady state visually evoked potential event related partial coherence (SSVEP-ERPC) to examine the SSVEP synchronization between brain regions while 22 males undertook a sequential version of the Shepard and Metzler mental rotation task. Compared to the 60 degrees rotation, the 180 degrees rotation was associated with increased synchronization between bilateral prefrontal and parieto-occipital sites, between left frontal and right parietal sites and between bilateral parietal and occipital sites. We suggest that the increased synchronization between prefrontal and parieto-occipital regions may be associated with the working memory components of the task, while the left frontal to right parietal synchronization may represent the increased interaction between these regions thought to occur in a variety of visuo-motor tasks.

Implications of recording strategy for estimates of neocortical dynamics with electroencephalography.

Neocortical dynamics evidently involves very complex, nonlinear processes including top-down and bottom-up interactions across spatial scales. The dynamics may also be strongly influenced by global (periodic) boundary conditions. The primary experimental measure of human neocortical dynamics at short time scales ( approximately few ms) is the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG).