Neural Dynamics of a Single Human with Long-Term, High Temporal Density Electroencephalography

Abstract

We undertake a longitudinal study with high temporal recording density, capturing daily electroencephalograms (EEG) of an individual in an in-situ setting for 370 consecutive days. Resting-state EEG retains a high level of stability over the course of the year, and inter-session variability remains unchanged, whether the sessions are one day, one week, or one month apart. On the other hand, EEG for certain cognitive tasks experience a steady decline in similarity over the same time period. Clustering analysis reveals that days with low similarity scores should not be considered as outliers, but instead are part of a cluster of days with a consistent alternate spectral signature. This has methodological and design implications for the selection of baseline references or templates in fields ranging from neurophysiology to brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and neurobiometrics.