Assessing transient cross-frequency coupling in EEG data

Synchronization of oscillatory EEG signals across different frequency bands is receiving waxing interest in cognitive neuroscience and neurophysiology, and cross-frequency coupling is being increasingly linked to cognitive and perceptual processes. Several methods exist to examine cross-frequency coupling, although each has its limitations, typically by being flexible only over time or over frequency. Here, a method for assessing transient cross-frequency coupling is presented, which allows one to test for the presence of multiple, dynamic, and flexible cross-frequency coupling structure over both time and frequency. The method is applied to intracranial EEG data, and strong coupling between gamma ( approximately 40-80 Hz) and upper theta ( approximately 7-9 Hz) was observed. This method might have useful applications in uncovering the electrophysiological correlates of cognitive processes.

[1]  J. Lisman.  The theta/gamma discrete phase code occuring during the hippocampal phase precession may be a more general brain coding scheme , 2005, Hippocampus.

[2]  M. Berger,et al.  High Gamma Power Is Phase-Locked to Theta Oscillations in Human Neocortex , 2006, Science.

[3]  J. Kaiser,et al.  Human gamma-frequency oscillations associated with attention and memory , 2007, Trends in Neurosciences.

[4]  J. Fell,et al.  Phase/amplitude reset and theta–gamma interaction in the human medial temporal lobe during a continuous word recognition memory task , 2005, Hippocampus.

[5]  Ankoor S. Shah,et al.  An oscillatory hierarchy controlling neuronal excitability and stimulus processing in the auditory cortex. , 2005, Journal of neurophysiology.

[6]  O. Jensen,et al.  Cross-frequency coupling between neuronal oscillations , 2007, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[7]  W. Singer,et al.  The gamma cycle , 2007, Trends in Neurosciences.

[8]  M. Wilson,et al.  Theta Rhythms Coordinate Hippocampal–Prefrontal Interactions in a Spatial Memory Task , 2005, PLoS biology.

[9]  R Quian Quiroga,et al.  Performance of different synchronization measures in real data: a case study on electroencephalographic signals. , 2002, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[10]  J. Martinerie,et al.  The brainweb: Phase synchronization and large-scale integration , 2001, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[11]  J. Palva,et al.  Phase Synchrony among Neuronal Oscillations in the Human Cortex , 2005, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[12]  A. Bruns.  Fourier-, Hilbert- and wavelet-based signal analysis: are they really different approaches? , 2004, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[13]  R. Parenti,et al.  Expression of connexin36 mRNA in adult rodent brain , 2000, Neuroreport.

[14]  G. Buzsáki,et al.  Neuronal Oscillations in Cortical Networks , 2004, Science.

[15]  J. Martinerie,et al.  Comparison of Hilbert transform and wavelet methods for the analysis of neuronal synchrony , 2001, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[16]  Klaus Lehnertz,et al.  Measuring the Directionality of Coupling: Phase versus State Space Dynamics and Application to EEG Time Series , 2007, Int. J. Neural Syst..

[17]  M. Steriade.  Grouping of brain rhythms in corticothalamic systems , 2006, Neuroscience.

[18]  R. Eckhorn,et al.  Amplitude envelope correlation detects coupling among incoherent brain signals , 2000, Neuroreport.

[19]  Jürgen Kurths,et al.  Detection of n:m Phase Locking from Noisy Data: Application to Magnetoencephalography , 1998 .

[20]  Herrmann Christoph,et al.  Gamma amplitudes are coupled to theta phase in human EEG during visual perception , 2010 .

[21]  Sabine Weiss,et al.  Quantification of phase synchronization phenomena and their importance for verbal memory processes , 2005, Biological Cybernetics.

[22]  W. Klimesch,et al.  Phase synchronization between theta and upper alpha oscillations in a working memory task. , 2005, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[23]  Stephen A. Dyer,et al.  Digital signal processing , 2018, 8th International Multitopic Conference, 2004. Proceedings of INMIC 2004..

[24]  G. Buzsáki,et al.  Gamma Oscillations in the Entorhinal Cortex of the Freely Behaving Rat , 1998, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[25]  Arnaud Delorme,et al.  EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis , 2004, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.