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Updated: Jun 25, 2025
Microstate and Omega Complexity Analyses of the Resting-state Electroencephalography
Published on: June 15, 2018
Human sensorimotor resting state beta events and aperiodic activity show good test-retest reliability
K Amande M Pauls1, Pietari Nurmi2, Heidi Ala-Salomäki2
1BioMag Laboratory, HUS Medical Imaging Center, Helsinki University Hospital, 00290 Helsinki, Finland; Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and Department of Clinical Neurosciences (Neurology), University of Helsinki, 00029 Helsinki, Finland.
Objective:
Diseases affecting sensorimotor function impair physical independence. Reliable functional clinical biomarkers allowing early diagnosis or targeting treatment and rehabilitation could reduce this burden. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) non-invasively measures brain rhythms such as the somatomotor 'rolandic' rhythm which shows intermittent high-amplitude beta (14-30 Hz) 'events' that predict behavior across tasks and species and are altered by sensorimotor neurological diseases.
Methods:
We assessed test-retest stability, a prerequisite for biomarkers, of spontaneous sensorimotor aperiodic (1/f) signal and beta events in 50 healthy human controls across two MEG sessions using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Beta events were determined using an amplitude-thresholding approach on a narrow-band filtered amplitude envelope obtained using Morlet wavelet decomposition.
Results:
Resting sensorimotor characteristics showed good to excellent test-retest stability. Aperiodic component (ICC 0.77-0.88) and beta event amplitude (ICC 0.74-0.82) were very stable, whereas beta event duration was more variable (ICC 0.55-0.7). 2-3 minute recordings were sufficient to obtain stable results. Analysis automatization was successful in 86%.
Conclusions:
Sensorimotor beta phenotype is a stable feature of an individual's resting brain activity even for short recordings easily measured in patients.
Significance:
Spontaneous sensorimotor beta phenotype has potential as a clinical biomarker of sensorimotor system integrity.
