Retest reliability of individual alpha ERD topography assessed by human electroencephalography

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 10; p. e0187244
• Main Authors: Vázquez-Marrufo, Manuel, Galvao-Carmona, Alejandro, Benítez Lugo, María Luisa, Ruíz-Peña, Juan Luis, Borges Guerra, Mónica, Izquierdo Ayuso, Guillermo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 31-10-2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Alpha Rhythm - physiology; Analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain; Brain - physiology; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; Component reliability; Correlation; Correlation analysis; EEG; Electroencephalography; Electroencephalography - methods; Electroencephalography - standards; Electroencephalography Phase Synchronization - physiology; Engineering and Technology; Event-related potentials; Evoked Potentials; Female; Human subjects; Humans; Latency; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Memory; Middle Aged; Mismatch negativity; Multiple sclerosis; Paradigms; Physical Sciences; Psychology; Reliability analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Research and Analysis Methods; Studies; Synchronization; Topography; Visual observation; Visual tasks; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187244

Despite the immense literature related to diverse human electroencephalographic (EEG) parameters, very few studies have focused on the reliability of these measures. Some of the most studied components (i.e., P3 or MMN) have received more attention regarding the stability of their main parameters, such as latency, amplitude or topography. However, spectral modulations have not been as extensively evaluated considering that different analysis methods are available. The main aim of the present study is to assess the reliability of the latency, amplitude and topography of event-related desynchronization (ERD) for the alpha band (10-14 Hz) observed in a cognitive task (visual oddball). Topography reliability was analysed at different levels (for the group, within-subjects individually and between-subjects individually).
The latency for alpha ERD showed stable behaviour between two sessions, and the amplitude exhibited an increment (more negative) in the second session. Alpha ERD topography exhibited a high correlation score between sessions at the group level (r = 0.903, p<0.001). The mean value for within-subject correlations was 0.750 (with a range from 0.391 to 0.954). Regarding between-subject topography comparisons, some subjects showed a highly specific topography, whereas other subjects showed topographies that were more similar to those of other subjects.
ERD was mainly stable between the two sessions with the exception of amplitude, which exhibited an increment in the second session. Topography exhibits excellent reliability at the group level; however, it exhibits highly heterogeneous behaviour at the individual level. Considering that the P3 was previously evaluated for this group of subjects, a direct comparison of the correlation scores was possible, and it showed that the ERD component is less reliable in individual topography than in the ERP component (P3).