Estimation of brain connectivity during motor imagery tasks using noise-assisted multivariate empirical mode decomposition

Abstract

The neural dynamics underlying the causal network during motor planning or imagery in the human brain are not well understood. The lack of signal processing tools suitable for the analysis of nonlinear and nonstationary electroencephalographic (EEG) hinders such analyses. In this study, noiseassisted multivariate empirical mode decomposition (NA-MEMD) is used to estimate the causal inference in the frequency domain, i.e., partial directed coherence (PDC). Natural and intrinsic oscillations corresponding to the motor imagery tasks can be extracted due to the data-driven approach of NA-MEMD, which does not employ predefined basis functions. Simulations based on synthetic data with a time delay between two signals demonstrated that NA-MEMD was the optimal method for estimating the delay between two signals. Furthermore, classification analysis of the motor imagery responses of 29 subjects revealed that NA-MEMD is a prerequisite process for estimating the causal network across multichannel EEG data during mental tasks.