Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximation

The primary method for evaluating high-order brain interactions by information-theoretic measures such as (dual) total correlation and O-information involves the Gaussian approximation. Although this approximation is rather accurate for functional MRI signals, it is unclear how accurate it is for el...

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Main Authors: Rikkert Hindriks, Frank van der Meulen, Michel J A M van Putten, Prejaas Tewarie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Physics: Complexity
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2632-072X/add3a9
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author Rikkert Hindriks
Frank van der Meulen
Michel J A M van Putten
Prejaas Tewarie
author_facet Rikkert Hindriks
Frank van der Meulen
Michel J A M van Putten
Prejaas Tewarie
author_sort Rikkert Hindriks
collection DOAJ
description The primary method for evaluating high-order brain interactions by information-theoretic measures such as (dual) total correlation and O-information involves the Gaussian approximation. Although this approximation is rather accurate for functional MRI signals, it is unclear how accurate it is for electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals. Here, we introduce the elliptical approximation, which is accurate for Gaussian data and a large family of non-Gaussian data. To illustrate its use, we applied both approximations to EEG and MEG signals and found that the Gaussian approximation to the (dual) total correlation and O-information is quite accurate for physiological resting-state oscillations, but is highly inaccurate for EEG data recorded during an absence seizure. In particular, for interactions of high-order ( $\gt$ 10) the approximations do not always agree on whether the interactions are dominated by synergy or redundancy. Thus, our proposed method offers an opportunity to study high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain activity.
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spelling doaj-art-0818e386ef9e4df9b62092c40558de372025-08-20T02:17:01ZengIOP PublishingJournal of Physics: Complexity2632-072X2025-01-016202501110.1088/2632-072X/add3a9Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximationRikkert Hindriks0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3575-186XFrank van der Meulen1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7246-8612Michel J A M van Putten2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8319-3626Prejaas Tewarie3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3311-4990Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam , Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam , Amsterdam, The NetherlandsClinical Neurophysiology Group, University of Twente & Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Medisch Spectrum Twente , Enschede, The NetherlandsClinical Neurophysiology Group, University of Twente & Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Medisch Spectrum Twente , Enschede, The Netherlands; Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Center, School of Physics, University of Nottingham , Nottingham, United Kingdom; Joint International Research Unit on Consciousness, CERVO Brain Research Centre, Laval University , Quebec, CanadaThe primary method for evaluating high-order brain interactions by information-theoretic measures such as (dual) total correlation and O-information involves the Gaussian approximation. Although this approximation is rather accurate for functional MRI signals, it is unclear how accurate it is for electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals. Here, we introduce the elliptical approximation, which is accurate for Gaussian data and a large family of non-Gaussian data. To illustrate its use, we applied both approximations to EEG and MEG signals and found that the Gaussian approximation to the (dual) total correlation and O-information is quite accurate for physiological resting-state oscillations, but is highly inaccurate for EEG data recorded during an absence seizure. In particular, for interactions of high-order ( $\gt$ 10) the approximations do not always agree on whether the interactions are dominated by synergy or redundancy. Thus, our proposed method offers an opportunity to study high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain activity.https://doi.org/10.1088/2632-072X/add3a9multivariate information theoryhigh-order interactionelectroencephalography (EEG)magnetoencephalography (MEG)elliptical distributionentropy
spellingShingle Rikkert Hindriks
Frank van der Meulen
Michel J A M van Putten
Prejaas Tewarie
Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximation
Journal of Physics: Complexity
multivariate information theory
high-order interaction
electroencephalography (EEG)
magnetoencephalography (MEG)
elliptical distribution
entropy
title Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximation
title_full Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximation
title_fullStr Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximation
title_full_unstemmed Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximation
title_short Unraveling high-order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions: moving beyond the Gaussian approximation
title_sort unraveling high order interactions in electrophysiological brain signals using elliptical distributions moving beyond the gaussian approximation
topic multivariate information theory
high-order interaction
electroencephalography (EEG)
magnetoencephalography (MEG)
elliptical distribution
entropy
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2632-072X/add3a9
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AT micheljamvanputten unravelinghighorderinteractionsinelectrophysiologicalbrainsignalsusingellipticaldistributionsmovingbeyondthegaussianapproximation
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