EEG alpha phase at stimulus onset significantly affects the amplitude of the P3 ERP component

Analysis of the relationship between prestimulus EEG alpha phase and the subsequent ERP has proved difficult because of the non-Euclidean nature of phase measurements. In this study, we employed a conventional P3 templating method of single-trial analysis to identify the P3 component in target auditory oddball data from 25 normals. As in previous studies, the absence or near absence of P3 from a subset of single-trials was clearly demonstrated. We investigated this phenomenon to determine whether those single-trials with a large P3 had a different prestimulus alpha phase from those with a small or no P3. Statistical analysis of phase required the use of circular statistical analysis and the development of a new form of topographic mapping, circular topography. The alpha phase at stimulus onset in single-trials with a large P3 was significantly different from that in single-trials with a small or no P3 (p = .02).