Previous motor task performance impacts phase-based EEG resting-state connectivity states

Abstract The resting human brain cycles through distinct states that can be analyzed using microstate analysis and electroencephalography (EEG) data. This approach classifies, multichannel EEG data into spontaneously interchanging microstates based on topographic features. These microstates may be valuable biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases since they reflect the resting brain’s state. However, microstates do not provide information about the active neural networks during the resting-state. This article presents an alternative and complementary method for analyzing resting-state EEG data and demonstrates its reproducibility and reliability. This method considers cerebral connectivity states defined by phase synchronization and measured using the corrected imaginary phase-locking value (ciPLV) based on source-reconstructed EEG recordings. We analyzed resting-state EEG data from young, healthy participants acquired on five consecutive days before and after a motor task. We show that our data reproduce microstates previously reported. Further, we reveal four stable topographic patterns over the multiple recording sessions in the source connectivity space. While the classical microstates were unaffected by a preceding motor task, the connectivity states were altered, reflecting the suppression of frontal activity in the post-movement resting-state.