Respiratory-related evoked potential measurements using high-density electroencephalography

ObjectiveThe respiratory-related evoked potential (RREP) has become an established technique for studying the neural processing of respiratory signals. However, the increasing availability of high-density EEG systems necessitates new criteria for obtaining acceptable RREPs with these systems.MethodsThe present study examined the minimum criteria for the number of inspiratory occlusions that need to be averaged in order to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio of 2:1 (3 dB) for the RREP components Nf, P1, N1, P2 and P3 with a 129 sensor high-density EEG system in 12 healthy volunteers. RREPs resulting from averaging 8, 16, 32 and 64 inspiratory occlusions were compared.ResultsAnalyses of signal-to-noise ratios demonstrated that a minimum of 32 and 16 inspiratory occlusions should be averaged for Nf and P1, respectively. For N1, P2, and P3, an average of at least 8 inspiratory occlusions is required. However, to account for inter-individual variability, 64 averaged occlusions for Nf, 32 averaged occlusions for P1, and 16 averaged occlusions for N1, P2, and P3 are recommended which more reliably exceed the signal-to-noise threshold.ConclusionsThese numbers provide the minimum and the recommended criteria for reliable measurements of the RREP for an adequate number of repeated occlusion epochs to be averaged in order to yield a reliable signal-to-noise ratio using a 129 sensor EEG system.SignificanceThe present study provides minimum and recommended criteria for obtaining acceptable RREPs with high-density EEG systems.