Surface EEG shows that functional segregation via phase coupling contributes to the neural substrate of mental calculations

Multichannel EEG traces from healthy subjects are used to investigate the brain’s self-organisation tendencies during two different mental arithmetic tasks. By making a comparison with a control-state in the form of a classification problem, we can detect and quantify the changes in coordinated brain activity in terms of functional connectivity. The interactions are quantified at the level of EEG sensors through descriptors that differ over the nature of functional dependencies sought (linear vs. nonlinear) and over the specific form of the measures employed (amplitude/phase covariation). Functional connectivity graphs (FCGs) are analysed with a novel clustering algorithm, and the resulting segregations enter an appropriate discriminant function.The magnitude of the contrast function depends on the frequency-band (θ, α1, α2, β and γ) and the neural synchrony descriptor. We first show that the maximal-contrast corresponds to a phase coupling descriptor and then identify the corresponding spatial patterns that represent best the task-induced changes for each frequency band.The principal finding of this study is that, during mental calculations, phase synchrony plays a crucial role in the segregation into distinct functional domains, and this segregation is the most prominent feature of the brain’s self-organisation as this is reflected in sensor space.

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► Self-organisation through group formation is an important tendency in two math tasks.
► Phase synchrony appears to be the neural underpinning of functional segregation in both cognitive tasks.
► Segregation is the most prominent feature of the brain’s self-organisation as this is reflected in sensor spa.