EEG spectral patterns

EEG signals encompass (1) characteristic "sounds" made up of a limited number of "partial tones" whose vibration rates are integer multiples of a fundamental "tone", and (2) characteristic "noise" made up of a large number of "partial tones" whose vibration rates cover the whole frequency range. The amplitudes of EEG partial tones are not constant but, rather, fluctuate around average values. The same is true, though less pronounced, of frequency. Here we find subtle shifts of partial tones towards lower and higher pitch, analogously to intonation patterns in human speech production which exhibits variations around a mean vocal pitch.

The fluctuations of EEG partial tones display marked between-subject differences together with a high within-subject stability over time. To quantify these characteristic fluctuations we have developed the concept of "spectral patterns" which generalizes the notion "spectrum" in such a way that spectral intensities are regarded as fluctuating rather than being fixed-valued, thus incorporating the non-stationary nature of EEG time series into our model.

• Long-term stability of EEG spectral patterns
• EEG spectral patterns of monozygotic twins
• EEG spectral patterns of dizygotic twins
• Between-subject versus within-subject EEG similarity
• Between-subject versus within-pair EEG similarity of twins

References

• Stassen HH, Lykken DT, Bomben G (1988a) The within-pair similarity of twins reared apart. Eur. Arch. Psychiatr. Neurol. Sci. 237: 244-252
• Stassen HH, Lykken DT, Propping P, Bomben G (1988b) Genetic determination of the human EEG (survey of recent results from twins reared together and apart). Human Genetics 80: 165-176
• Kaprio J., Buchsbaum M., Gottesman I.I., Heath A., Koerner J., Kringlen E., McGuffin P., Propping P., Rietschel M. and Stassen H.H. (1993) What can twin studies contribute to the understanding of adult psychopathology? In: Bouchard T.J. jr. and Propping P. (eds) Twins as a tool for behavioral genetics. (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Dahlem Workshop Reports, Life Sciences Research Report 53, 287-299
• Stassen HH, Bomben G, Hell D (1998) Familial brain wave patterns: study of a 12 sib family. Psychiatric Genetics 8: 141-153
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• Dünki RM, Schmid GB, Stassen HH (2000) Intraindividual specificity and stability of the human EEG: Linear vs. nonlinear approaches. Meth. Inform. Med. 39: 78-82
• Stassen HH (2003) EEG and evoked potentials. In: D. Cooper (ed) Nature Encyclopedia of the Human Genome. Nature Publishing Group, London, 3: 266-269
• Vogel F. (1986) Grundlagen und Bedeutung genetisch bedingter Variabilität des normalen menschlichen EEG. Z. EEG - EMG 17, 173-188
• Weisbrod M, Hill H, Sauer H, Niethammer R, Guggenbühl S, Stassen HH (2004) Nongenetic pathologic developments of brain-wave patterns in monozygotic twins discordant and concordant for schizophrenia. Am. J. Med. Genetics; Neuropsychiatric Genetics 125: 1-9

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• k454910@bli.unizh.ch - General information relevant to this project.