Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesia

Electroencephalography microstate analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for investigating brain dynamics during anesthesia-induced unconsciousness. However, existing studies typically analyze EEG signals across broad frequency bands, leaving the frequency-specific temporal characteristics of micro...

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Main Authors: Yun Zhang, Haidong Wang, Fei Yan, Dawei Song, Qiang Wang, Yubo Wang, Liyu Huang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:NeuroImage
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001612
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author Yun Zhang
Haidong Wang
Fei Yan
Dawei Song
Qiang Wang
Yubo Wang
Liyu Huang
author_facet Yun Zhang
Haidong Wang
Fei Yan
Dawei Song
Qiang Wang
Yubo Wang
Liyu Huang
author_sort Yun Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Electroencephalography microstate analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for investigating brain dynamics during anesthesia-induced unconsciousness. However, existing studies typically analyze EEG signals across broad frequency bands, leaving the frequency-specific temporal characteristics of microstates poorly understood. In this study, we investigated frequency-specific EEG microstate features in the delta (0.5–4 Hz) and EEG-without-delta (4–30 Hz) frequency bands during propofol anesthesia. Sixty-channel EEG recordings were collected from 18 healthy male participants during wakefulness and propofol-induced unconsciousness. Microstate analysis was conducted separately for delta and EEG-without-delta frequency bands and microstate features were compared across frequency bands and conscious states. Our results revealed eight consistent microstate classes (MS1–MS8) with high topographic similarity across frequency bands, while global explained variance (GEV), mean duration (MeanDur), occurrence (Occ), and coverage (Cov) exhibited significant frequency- and state-dependent variations during propofol anesthesia. In the delta band, propofol-induced unconsciousness was associated with significantly longer MeanDur for microstate classes of MS4, MS5, and MS6 (p < 0.05). In the EEG-without-delta band, GEV, Cov, and Occ significantly increased for MS1 and MS3 (p < 0.01) and decreased for MS2 and MS4 (p < 0.05) during unconsciousness. Notably, microstate features in the EEG-without-delta band showed better sensitivity for discriminating conscious states, achieving a classification accuracy of 0.944. These findings emphasize the importance of frequency-specific microstate analysis in unraveling the neural dynamics of anesthesia-induced unconsciousness and highlight its potential clinical applications for improving anesthesia depth monitoring.
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spelling doaj-art-1b13d99532c84df3b5c0b80e945ff2502025-08-20T03:17:54ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-04-0131012115910.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121159Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesiaYun Zhang0Haidong Wang1Fei Yan2Dawei Song3Qiang Wang4Yubo Wang5Liyu Huang6School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, PR ChinaSchool of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, PR ChinaDepartment of Anesthesiology &amp; Center for Brain Science, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, PR ChinaDepartment of Anesthesiology &amp; Center for Brain Science, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, PR ChinaDepartment of Anesthesiology &amp; Center for Brain Science, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, PR ChinaSchool of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, PR China; Corresponding authors. 266 Xinglong Section of Xifeng Road, Xi'an 710126 PR China.School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, PR China; Corresponding authors. 266 Xinglong Section of Xifeng Road, Xi'an 710126 PR China.Electroencephalography microstate analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for investigating brain dynamics during anesthesia-induced unconsciousness. However, existing studies typically analyze EEG signals across broad frequency bands, leaving the frequency-specific temporal characteristics of microstates poorly understood. In this study, we investigated frequency-specific EEG microstate features in the delta (0.5–4 Hz) and EEG-without-delta (4–30 Hz) frequency bands during propofol anesthesia. Sixty-channel EEG recordings were collected from 18 healthy male participants during wakefulness and propofol-induced unconsciousness. Microstate analysis was conducted separately for delta and EEG-without-delta frequency bands and microstate features were compared across frequency bands and conscious states. Our results revealed eight consistent microstate classes (MS1–MS8) with high topographic similarity across frequency bands, while global explained variance (GEV), mean duration (MeanDur), occurrence (Occ), and coverage (Cov) exhibited significant frequency- and state-dependent variations during propofol anesthesia. In the delta band, propofol-induced unconsciousness was associated with significantly longer MeanDur for microstate classes of MS4, MS5, and MS6 (p < 0.05). In the EEG-without-delta band, GEV, Cov, and Occ significantly increased for MS1 and MS3 (p < 0.01) and decreased for MS2 and MS4 (p < 0.05) during unconsciousness. Notably, microstate features in the EEG-without-delta band showed better sensitivity for discriminating conscious states, achieving a classification accuracy of 0.944. These findings emphasize the importance of frequency-specific microstate analysis in unraveling the neural dynamics of anesthesia-induced unconsciousness and highlight its potential clinical applications for improving anesthesia depth monitoring.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001612ElectroencephalographyMicrostate analysisDelta bandAlpha anteriorizationNeural correlates of consciousness
spellingShingle Yun Zhang
Haidong Wang
Fei Yan
Dawei Song
Qiang Wang
Yubo Wang
Liyu Huang
Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesia
NeuroImage
Electroencephalography
Microstate analysis
Delta band
Alpha anteriorization
Neural correlates of consciousness
title Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesia
title_full Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesia
title_fullStr Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesia
title_full_unstemmed Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesia
title_short Frequency- and state-dependent dynamics of EEG microstates during propofol anesthesia
title_sort frequency and state dependent dynamics of eeg microstates during propofol anesthesia
topic Electroencephalography
Microstate analysis
Delta band
Alpha anteriorization
Neural correlates of consciousness
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001612
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AT daweisong frequencyandstatedependentdynamicsofeegmicrostatesduringpropofolanesthesia
AT qiangwang frequencyandstatedependentdynamicsofeegmicrostatesduringpropofolanesthesia
AT yubowang frequencyandstatedependentdynamicsofeegmicrostatesduringpropofolanesthesia
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