Traversing Scales of Brain and Behavioral Organization II: Analysis and Reconstruction

Abstract

Brain signals can be recorded from humans in a great variety of experimental setups and task conditions. As outlined in the first of our papers (Kelso, Fuchs and Jirsa this volume, referred to in the following as KFJ) our approach aims at specific situations were (in most cases) coordination tasks are used to prepare the brain into a certain state. Changing this state by either the variation of an external parameter or slight changes in the task allows us to link properties of movement behavior to ongoing neural activity. In so-called transition paradigms we have shown how the spatiotemporal patterns obtained by recordings of the electric scalp potential (EEG) (Wallenstein et al. 1995), (Meaux et al. 1996) or the magnetic field (MEG) (Fuchs et al. 1992) undergo changes when spontaneous switches in the subject’s motor coordination occur. Here we describe in detail how analysis and visualization techniques can be used to show how brain activity is related to a kinematic feature of finger movement — its velocity profile, as outlined in KFJ. We are going to show which parts of the brain signals are invariant a cross different movement types, i.e. the flexion or extension of an index finger, and what differences can be found for different task conditions, i.e. syncopation or synchronization with an external stimulus.