Progress in functional neuroscience is only achievable using a combination of methods.12

However, not all strategies can be applied in every laboratory. Suggested steps in the application of oscillatory dynamics Pointers to the functional significance of brain oscillations emerge from the analysis of responses to well-defined events (ERO phase- or time-locked to a sensory or cognitive event). Such oscillations can be investigated, among other approaches, using frequency domain analysis of ERP based on the following hypothesis: The EEG consists Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the activity of an ensemble of oscillators generating rhythmic activity in several frequency ranges. Oscillator activity is usually random. However, sensory

stimuli can be used to couple these oscillators so that they act together in a coherent Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical way. This synchronization and enhancement of EEG activity gives rise to evoked or induced rhythms. Evoked potentials (EP), representing ensembles of neural population responses, are considered Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the result of a transition from a disordered to an ordered state. Compound ERP manifest a superposition of evoked oscillations in the EEG frequencies ranging from delta to gamma. Natural brain frequencies are denoted as alpha: 8-13 Hz; beta, 18-25; theta: 3.5-7 Hz; delta: 0.5-3.5 Hz, and gamma: 30-70 Hz.15-20 When the stimulus signal contains a cognitive task the evoked oscillations are considered as ERO. There are several Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical strategies available for measuring cognitive changes, including spontaneous EEG, sensory-evoked oscillations, and ERO. The term “sensory-evoked” GSK2656157 in vivo implies responses elicited by simple sensory stimulation, whereas “event-related” indicates responses elicited by a cognitive task,

generally an oddball Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical paradigm. Further selective connectivity deficit in sensory or cognitive networks is reflected by coherence measurements. When a simple sensory stimulus is used, a sensory network becomes activated, whereas an these oddball task initiates activation in a sensory network and additionally in a related cognitive network. Ensemble of systems theory methods Several mathematic methods and systems theory approaches are used to analyze the dynamics of brain oscillations (Table I). We describe four such methods in more detail below. Spectral signal analysis constitutes one of the most important and most commonly used analytical tools for evaluating neurophysiologic signals.