EEG-derived brain connectivity in theta/alpha frequency bands increases during reading of individual words

Objective: Although extensive insights about the neural mechanisms of reading have been gained via magnetic and electrographic imaging, the temporal evolution of the brain network during sight reading remains unclear. We tested whether the temporal dynamics of the brain functional connectivity involved in sight reading can be tracked using high-density scalp EEG recordings. Approach: Twenty-eight healthy subjects were asked to read words in a rapid serial visual presentation task while recording scalp EEG, and phase locking value was used to estimate the functional connectivity between EEG channels in the theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands. The resultant networks were then tracked through time. Main results: The network's graph density gradually increases as the task unfolds, peaks 150-250-ms after the appearance of each word, and returns to resting-state values, while the shortest path length between non-adjacent functional areas decreases as the density increases, thus indicating that a progressive integration between regions can be detected at the scalp level. This pattern was independent of the word's type or position in the sentence, occurred in the theta/alpha band but not in beta/gamma band, and peaked earlier in the alpha band compared to the theta band (alpha: 184 ± 61.48-ms; theta: 237 ± 65.32-ms, P-value P < 0.01). Nodes in occipital and frontal regions had the highest eigenvector centrality throughout the word's presentation, and no significant lead-lag relationship between frontal/occipital regions and parietal/temporal regions was found, which indicates a consistent pattern in information flow. In the source space, this pattern was driven by a cluster of nodes linked to sensorimotor processing, memory, and semantic integration, with the most central regions being similar across subjects. Significance: These findings indicate that the brain network connectivity can be tracked via scalp EEG as reading unfolds, and EEG-retrieved networks follow highly repetitive patterns lateralized to frontal/occipital areas during reading.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-025-10280-8.