BOLD Correlates of Alpha and Beta EEG-Rhythm during a Motor Task

Abstract

In this study, simultaneously acquired EEG and fMRI data from a motor experiment are analyzed. The motor task consists in moving the right hand and is performed by a group of healthy volunteers. The objective is to find the most adequate way to model the movement-related blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response present in the fMRI data. The analysis of the fMRI data is performed using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) and estimating two different models. In the first one (motor event model), the BOLD response is modeled following the time instants of the motor events. The second one (brain wave model) incorporates the dynamics of the 5 canonical EEG rhythms (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, theta) to describe the BOLD response. From the results, it can be concluded that the motor event model better describes the BOLD response related to the movement itself, but that the brain wave model is better suited to characterize the BOLD response of complementary brain processes.