RESEARCH PROJECT
Funding Institution
Sleep Consciousness Lab
256 Channel High-Density EEG Source Mapping of the Vibrational State
Objectives
Building on SC-LAB’s earlier Vibrational State (VS) EEG analysis, this research will deploy a 256-channel ultra-high-density EEG to further characterise the VS. To substantially improved spatial precision, we will integrate MRI-informed source localisation and individualised 3-D electrode mapping (as in our willfully induced OBE work) to move beyond scalp-level signatures and estimate the cortical generators and network interactions associated with VS onset, maintenance, and offset. A further objective is to leverage the EGI 256 layout’s extended scalp/neck coverage to quantify and model non-neural artefacts (e.g., cranial and cervical EMG contamination), strengthening the specificity of high-frequency findings and improving reproducibility.
Outcomes
This study is designed to deliver the first high-density, anatomically constrained source model of the VS, producing: (i) participant-specific cortical activation maps of VS-related generators; (ii) time-resolved measures of cortico-cortical dynamics (connectivity and cross-frequency coupling) that distinguish VS from neighbouring sleep or arousal states; and (iii) an explicit artefact characterisation framework exploiting neck/scalp channels to separate true neural high-frequency activity from muscle and movement contamination. Together, these outputs will transform the VS from a primarily phenomenological report with scalp-level EEG correlates into a mechanistically grounded, localised brain-state model that can be directly compared with—and later integrated into—fMRI network mapping and stimulation-based causal tests.