Comparison of different functional connectives based on EEG during concealed information test

Abstract

Abstract Deception is a complex cognitive process in which liars always want to conceal some information. Concealed information test (CIT) is a useful paradigm which widely used in deception detection. Recent evidences from brain research suggest deception involves various cognitive activities, and most electroencephalograph (EEG) based concealed information test basically focuses on the signals from few electrodes and analyzed separately. In order to investigate the functional connectivity in different brain regions and the features from spatial domain, we applied graph theoretical concept to evaluate the changes of functional brain networks in guilty group compared with innocent in this article. Five different connectivity methods, including linear and nonlinear interdependence analysis, were explored to the multi-channel EEG signals, to explore which method is best for CIT. The result shows deception responses showed an increased connectivity level. Intraregional and interregional connectivity analysis also showed that deception was associated with increased activity in certain brain areas. Statistical analysis of network parameters showed these features form the two groups were significantly different, and mutual information was the best approach during which for network construction in CIT. Simultaneously, the deception response showed increased small-worldness. The results support the hypothesis that deception mainly involved in the process of working memory, which shows an enhanced connectivity and small-world properties. These findings reveal different dynamic networks in deception and truth telling state, and could be used to identify deception in individual subjects.