Respiratory-related evoked potential measurements using high-density electroencephalography

Abstract

Objective: The respiratory-related evoked potential (RREP) has become an established technique for studying the neural processing of respiratory signals. However, the increasing availability of high-density EEG systems necessitates new criteria for obtaining acceptable RREPs with these systems.

Methods: The present study examined the minimum criteria for the number of inspiratory occlusions that need to be averaged in order to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio of 2:1 (3 dB) for the RREP components Nf, P1, N1, P2 and P3 with a 129 sensor high-density EEG system in 12 healthy volunteers. RREPs resulting from averaging 8, 16, 32 and 64 inspiratory occlusions were compared.

Results: Analyses of signal-to-noise ratios demonstrated that a minimum of 32 and 16 inspiratory occlusions should be averaged for Nf and P1, respectively. For N1, P2, and P3, an average of at least 8 inspiratory occlusions is required. However, to account for inter-individual variability, 64 averaged occlusions for Nf, 32 averaged occlusions for P1, and 16 averaged occlusions for N1, P2, and P3 are recommended which more reliably exceed the signal-to-noise threshold.

Conclusions: These numbers provide the minimum and the recommended criteria for reliable measurements of the RREP for an adequate number of repeated occlusion epochs to be averaged in order to yield a reliable signal-to-noise ratio using a 129 sensor EEG system.

Significance: The present study provides minimum and recommended criteria for obtaining acceptable RREPs with high-density EEG systems.