The use of standardized infinity reference in EEG coherency studies

The study of large scale interactions in the brain from EEG signals is a promising method for the identification of functional networks. However, the validity of a large scale parameter is limited by two factors: the use of a non-neutral reference and the artifactual self-interactions between the measured EEG signals introduced by volume conduction. In this paper, we propose an approach to study large scale EEG coherency in which these factors are eliminated. Artifactual self-interaction by volume conduction is eliminated by using the imaginary part of the complex coherency as a measure of interaction and the Reference Electrode Standardization Technique (REST) is used for the approximate standardization of the reference of scalp EEG recordings to a point at infinity that, being far from all possible neural sources, acts like a neutral virtual reference. The application of our approach to simulated and real EEG data shows that the detection of interaction, as opposed to artifacts due to reference and volume conduction, is a goal that can be achieved from the study of a large scale parameter.