Wavelet-based Time-frequency Analysis Research Articles

Frequency and time-frequency analysis of intraoperative ECoG during awake brain stimulation.

Electrocortical stimulation remains the standard for functional brain mapping of eloquent areas to prevent postoperative functional deficits. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the short-train technique (monopolar stimulation) and Penfield's technique (bipolar stimulation) would induce different effects on brain oscillatory activity in awake patients, as quantified by electrocorticography (ECoG). The study population was seven patients undergoing brain tumor surgery. Intraoperative bipolar and monopolar electrical stimulation for cortical mapping was performed during awake surgery. ECoG was recorded using 1 × 8 electrode strip. Spectral estimation was calculated using a parametric approach based on an autoregressive model. Wavelet-based time-frequency analysis was then applied to evaluate the temporal evolution of brain oscillatory activity. Both monopolar and bipolar stimulation produced an increment in delta and a decrease in beta powers for the motor and the sensory channels. These phenomena lasted about 4 s. Comparison between monopolar and bipolar stimulation showed no significant difference in brain activity. Given the importance of quantitative signal analysis for evaluating response accuracy, ECoG recording during electrical stimulation is necessary to characterize the dynamic processes underlying changes in cortical responses in vivo. This study is a preliminary approach to the quantitative analysis of post-stimulation ECoG signals.

EEG oscillatory activity associated to monetary gain and loss signals in a learning task: Effects of attentional impulsivity and learning ability

This study investigated the influence of individual differences in attentional impulsivity (Att-Imp), learning ability, and learning practice on oscillatory activity and phase synchrony responses to monetary gain and loss signals during an instrumental-learning task in healthy women. We used a trial-by-trial wavelet-based time-frequency analysis of the electroencephalographic (EEG) signal to provide amplitude and inter-site phase synchrony measures from 30 electrodes in theta (4–8Hz, 350–500ms), alpha (8–12Hz, 100–200ms), beta (13–25Hz, 100–200ms), and gamma (30–40Hz, 350–450ms) time-frequency ranges. Oscillatory amplitude and inter-site phase synchrony were both greater following loss signals as compared to gain signals in theta, beta, and gamma frequency bands. Low Att-Imp subjects had higher theta activity within a 350–500ms time window over frontocentral, and centroparietal sites than high Att-Imp subjects. Monetary gain signals elicited higher theta and gamma activities in high Att-Imp individuals and loss signals elicited higher activities to loss signals in low Att-Imp individuals. Good learners showed enhanced intrahemispheric theta synchrony between frontoparietal, and fronto-occipital sites to monetary loss compared to gain signals. In good learners, monetary loss produced an increase of gamma synchrony that enhanced in the second stage of learning. In low Att-Imp individuals, there was a reduction of theta synchrony during the second stage, as compared with the first stage of learning, between temporal, parietal and fronto-parietal brain regions. These findings may offer valuable clues to understand outcome processing, attentional impulsivity, and learning ability. We propose that the punishment-related theta and gamma waves play a leading role in learning process.

Impaired Neural Synchrony in the Theta Frequency Range in Adolescents at Familial Risk for Schizophrenia

Puberty is a critical period for the maturation of the fronto-limbic and fronto-striate brain circuits responsible for executive function and affective processing. Puberty also coincides with the emergence of the prodromal signs of schizophrenia, which may indicate an association between these two processes. Time-domain analysis and wavelet based time–frequency analysis was performed on electroencephalographic (EEG) data of 30 healthy control (HC) subjects and 24 individuals at familial risk (FR) for schizophrenia. All participants were between the ages of 13 and 18 years and were carefully matched for age, gender, ethnicity, education, and Tanner Stage. Electrophysiological recordings were obtained from 32 EEG channels while participants performed a visual oddball task, where they identified rare visual targets among standard “scrambled” images and rare aversive and neutral distracter pictures. The time-domain analysis showed that during target processing the FR group showed smaller event-related potentials in the P2 and P3 range as compared to the HC group. In addition, EEG activity in the theta (4–8 Hz) frequency range was significantly reduced during target processing in the FR group. Inefficient cortical information processing during puberty may be an early indicator of altered brain function in adolescents at FR for schizophrenia and may represent a vulnerability marker for illness onset. Longitudinal assessments will have to determine their predictive value for illness onset in populations at FR for psychotic illness.

Analysis of Frequency Nonstationarity via Continuous Wavelet Transform in the Response of Primary-Secondary Systems

An investigation into the frequency nonstationarity in the response of primary-secondary (P-S) systems and the impact it could have in the analysis of such structures has been presented in this note. For this purpose, a torsionally coupled P-S system subjected to nonstationary support motion is considered here. Simulated time history records of relative displacement of the secondary system are used to evaluate the time varying power spectral density functions. This is achieved by using a wavelet-based time-frequency analysis, which shows the temporal variations in the frequency content. The numerical results presented in this study advocate the use of nonstationary analysis of the P-S system for their proper design as conventional methods using cascading approximation may fail to capture this phenomenon, especially in the light of tuning and torsional coupling. System parameters such as mass ratio and radius of gyration are also observed to have a significant impact on the time varying frequency content of the response which is evidenced from the constructed time varying power spectrum.

Wavelet-Based System Identification of Short-Term Dynamic Characteristics of Arterial Baroreflex

The assessment of arterial baroreflex function in cardiovascular diseases requires quantitative evaluation of dynamic and static baroreflex properties because of the frequent modulation of baroreflex properties with unstable hemodynamics. The purpose of this study was to identify the dynamic baroreflex properties from transient changes of step pressure inputs with background noise during a short-duration baroreflex test in anesthetized rabbits with isolated carotid sinuses, using a modified wavelet-based time-frequency analysis. The proposed analysis was able to identify the transfer function of baroreflex as well as static properties from the transient input-output responses under normal [gain at 0.04 Hz from carotid sinus pressure (CSP) to arterial pressure (n = 8); 0.29 +/- 0.05 at low (40-60 mmHg), 1.28 +/- 0.12 at middle (80-100 mmHg), and 0.38 +/- 0.07 at high (120-140 mmHg) CSP changes] and pathophysiological [gain in control vs. phenylbiguanide (n = 8); 0.32 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.39 +/- 0.09 at low, 1.39 +/- 0.15 vs. 0.59 +/- 0.09 (p < 0.01) at middle, and 0.35 +/- 0.04 vs. 0.15 +/- 0.02 (p < 0.01) at high CSP changes] conditions. Subsequently, we tested the proposed wavelet-based method under closed-loop baroreflex responses; the simulation study indicates that it may be applicable to clinical situations for accurate assessment of dynamic baroreflex function. In conclusion, the dynamic baroreflex property to various pressure inputs could be simultaneously extracted from the step responses with background noise.

Cochlear reflectivity in transmission-line models and otoacoustic emission characteristic time delays

In transmission-line models of cochlear mechanics, predictions about otoacoustic-emission delays depend on the place- or wave-fixed nature of the emission generation mechanism. In this work, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs), recorded at different stimulus levels in 10 young subjects, were analyzed using wavelet-based time-frequency analysis to determine the latency of each frequency component of the response. The same wave forms were Fourier analyzed to evaluate the phase-gradient delay as a function of frequency. Interpreting the relation between these two characteristic delays using cochlear models shows that most of the TEOAE response can be attributed to place-fixed reflection mechanisms. The causality principle explains observed correlations between fluctuations of the TEOAE amplitude and phase-gradient delay.

Assessment of structural integrity via wavelet based time-frequency analysis of vibration signals

An approach for assessment of structural integrity via wavelet analysis based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is presented here. The success of the approach relies on the information available in the form of local (in time) frequency content of the vibration signals. Results from three typical case studies are reviewed and outlined in this paper. The first one is a study based on hysteretic structures. The second example is for a linear time varying Multi-Degree-Of-Freedom (MDOF) system with time varying natural frequencies and mode shapes. The third case considered is an experimental study on the seismic response of concentrically braced frames.

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution as state space diffusion: Classical-quantum correspondence

We study the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) dynamics of an effective spectroscopic Hamiltonian describing the four coupled high frequency modes of CDBrClF. The IVR dynamics ensuing from nearly isoenergetic zeroth-order states, an edge (overtone) and an interior (combination) state, is studied from a state space diffusion perspective. A wavelet based time-frequency analysis reveals an inhomogeneous phase space due to the trapping of classical trajectories. Consequently the interior state has a smaller effective IVR dimension as compared to the edge state.

Development of the 40 Hz steady state auditory evoked magnetic field from ages 5 to 52

Objective Adults exhibit strong auditory 40 Hz magnetic steady state responses (SSR). Although EEG measured SSR has been studied in children, the developmental course of the magnetic SSR is unknown. Methods Sixty-nine healthy subjects ranging in age from 5 to 52 years participated in a magnetoencephalographic (MEG) study. Stimuli were monaural 500 ms duration click trains with a 25 ms inter-click interval. Contralateral magnetic responses for both hemispheres were recorded with a 37-channel MEG system. Responses were averaged and examined using wavelet-based time-frequency analysis. Source analyses were also conducted on a subset of the data. Results Gamma power from 200 to 500 ms post-stimulus onset was computed and was significantly related to subject age in both hemispheres. Hemispheric asymmetry was observed for the anterior–posterior SSR source locations, suggestive of asymmetry similar to that previously described for the SSR and other auditory evoked magnetic field components. Conclusions The 40 Hz power findings are generally consistent with previous EEG studies of steady state responses in children showing age-related changes in the 40 Hz SSR. Significance Age-related changes in the strength of the magnetic 40 Hz SSR may continue to develop well beyond early childhood, which should be taken into consideration in planning future studies using adolescents and young adults.

EEG theta and gamma responses to semantic violations in online sentence processing

We explore the nature of the oscillatory dynamics in the EEG of subjects reading sentences that contain a semantic violation. More specifically, we examine whether increases in theta (≈3–7 Hz) and gamma (around 40 Hz) band power occur in response to sentences that were either semantically correct or contained a semantically incongruent word (semantic violation). ERP results indicated a classical N400 effect. A wavelet-based time-frequency analysis revealed a theta band power increase during an interval of 300–800 ms after critical word onset, at temporal electrodes bilaterally for both sentence conditions, and over midfrontal areas for the semantic violations only. In the gamma frequency band, a predominantly frontal power increase was observed during the processing of correct sentences. This effect was absent following semantic violations. These results provide a characterization of the oscillatory brain dynamics, and notably of both theta and gamma oscillations, that occur during language comprehension.

Coherent states of the driven Rydberg atom: Quantum-classical correspondence of periodically driven systems

A methodology to calculate generalized coherent states for a periodically driven system is presented. We study wave packets constructed as a linear combination of suitable Floquet states of the three-dimensional Rydberg atom in a microwave field. The driven coherent states show classical space localization, spreading, and revivals and remain localized along the classical trajectory. The microwave strength and frequency have a great effect in the localization of Floquet states, since quasienergy avoided crossings produce delocalization of the Floquet states, showing that tuning of the parameters is very important. Using wavelet-based time-frequency analysis, the classical phase-space structure is determined, which allows us to show that the driven coherent state is located in a large regular region in which the $z$ coordinate is in resonance with the external field. The expectation values of the wave packet show that the driven coherent state evolves along the classical trajectory.

NONLINEAR DYNAMICSOF EVOKED NEUROMAGNETIC RESPONSES SIGNIFIES POTENTIAL DEFENSIVE MECHANISMS AGAINST PHOTOSENSITIVITY

We investigated the dynamical characteristics of neuromagnetic responses by recording magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals to equiluminant flickering stimulus of different color combinations from a group of control subjects, and from a patient with photosensitive epilepsy. By wavelet based time-frequency analysis, we showed that two distinct neuromagentic responses corresponding to stimulus frequency and its time delayed first harmonic were found in control subjects, whereas no harmonic response was obtained for the patient. We applied a battery of methods (sample entropy measuring signal complexity and index of smoothness measuring determinism) based on nonlinear dynamical system theory in conjunction with bootstrapping surrogate analysis. The results suggested that a significant nonlinear structure was evident in the MEG signals for control subjects, whereas nonlinearity was not detected for the patient. In addition, the couplings between distant cortical regions were found to be greater for control subjects. The important role of combinational chromatic sensitivity in sustained cortical excitation was also confirmed. These findings lead to the hypothesis that the healthy human brain is most likely equipped with significantly nonlinear neuronal processing reflecting an inherent mechanism defending against hyper-excitation to chromatic flickering stimulus, and such nonlinear mechanism is likely to be impaired for a patient with photosensitive epilepsy.

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in DCO (X̃2A′): Classical-quantum correspondence, dynamical assignments of highly excited states, and phase space transport

Intermolecular dynamics of highly excited DCO (X^2A') is studied from a classical-quantum perspective using the effective spectroscopic Hamiltonian proposed recently by Trollch and Temps (Z. Phy. Chem. 215, 207 (2001)). This work focuses on the polyads P = 3 and P = 4 corresponding to excitation energies E_v ~ 5100 cm^-1 and 7000 cm^-1 respectively. The majority of states belonging to these polyads are dynamically assigned, despite extensive stochasticity in the classical phase space, using the recently proposed technique of level velocities. A wavelet based time-frequency analysis is used to reveal the nature of phase space transport and the relevant dynamical bottlenecks. The local frequency analysis clearly illustrates the existence of mode-specific IVR dynamics i.e., differing nature of the IVR dynamics ensuing from CO stretch and the DCO bend bright states. In addition the role of the weak Fermi resonance involving the CO stretch and DCO bend modes is investigated. A key feature of the present work is that the techniques utilized for the analysis i.e., parametric variations and local frequency analysis are not limited by the dimensionality of the system. This study, thus, explores the potential for understanding IVR in large molecules from both time domain and frequency domain perspectives.

Visually Evoked Gamma Responses in the Human Brain Are Enhanced during Voluntary Hyperventilation

Hypocapnia induced by hyperventilation (HV) has powerful effects on neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission. We have studied the effect of hyperventilation on the phase-locked oscillatory components of the evoked responses in the human brain. We recorded visually evoked magnetoencephalographic responses before, during, and after voluntary hyperventilation to pattern-reversal checkerboard stimuli. Gamma-band (30–45 Hz) responses phase-locked to the stimuli were generated in the occipital visual cortex. A wavelet-based time-frequency analysis revealed that the gamma responses increased during HV whereas their frequency did not change significantly. A recent in vitro study in the rat hippocampus demonstrated that the stability of spontaneous gamma activity increases during hypocapnia as a result of enhanced GABAergic transmission. To test if a similar mechanism could account for our findings, we performed simulations on a network of 100 Hodgkin–Huxley neurons connected by inhibitory synapses. We found that enhanced GABAA transmission, paired with enhanced excitability, can explain the increase in evoked gamma activity without changing the frequency.

Spectrotemporal analysis of guided-wave pulse-echo signals: Part 1. Dispersive systems

In this paper, a wavelet-based time frequency analysis is presented to analyze guided-wave signals for rapid inspection of thin-walled structural members. The overall objective is to detect and locate discontinuities using a single broadband signal. Part 1 of this paper shows how the wavelet transform can be used to analyze a dispersive system. A straightforward procedure is developed to extract group delay information from the computed wavelet transform coefficients. The procedure is demonstrated by a simulation study for single-mode and simple dual-mode dispersion signals. Part 2 is an experimental study of multimode dispersion.

Magnetoencephalographic responses to illusory figures: early evoked gamma is affected by processing of stimulus features

We examined evoked and induced responses in event-related fields and gamma activity in the magnetoencephalogram (MEG) during a visual classification task. The objective was to investigate the effects of target classification and the different levels of discrimination between certain stimulus features. We performed two experiments, which differed only in the subjects’ task while the stimuli were identical. In Experiment 1, subjects responded by a button-press to rare Kanizsa squares (targets) among Kanizsa triangles and non-Kanizsa figures (standards). This task requires the processing of both stimulus features (collinearity and number of inducer disks). In Experiment 2, the four stimuli of Experiment 1 were used as standards and the occurrence of an additional stimulus without any feature overlap with the Kanizsa stimuli (a rare and highly salient red fixation cross) had to be detected. Discrimination of collinearity and number of inducer disks was not necessarily required for task performance. We applied a wavelet-based time-frequency analysis to the data and calculated topographical maps of the 40 Hz activity. The early evoked gamma activity (100–200 ms) in Experiment 1 was higher for targets as compared to standards. In Experiment 2, no significant differences were found in the gamma responses to the Kanizsa figures and non-Kanizsa figures. This pattern of results suggests that early evoked gamma activity in response to visual stimuli is affected by the targetness of a stimulus and the need to discriminate between the features of a stimulus.