Sensor-Level Wavelet Analysis Reveals EEG Biomarkers of Perceptual Decision-Making

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 21; no. 7; p. 2461
• Main Authors: Kuc, Alexander, Grubov, Vadim V., Maksimenko, Vladimir A., Shusharina, Natalia, Pisarchik, Alexander N., Hramov, Alexander E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.04.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Ambiguity; ambiguous stimuli; beta-band activity; Biomarkers; Calibration; Decision Making; Electroencephalography; Experiments; perceptual decision-making; selective attention; top-down processes; Wavelet Analysis; perceptual decision-making; beta-band activity; top-down processes; selective attention; ambiguous stimuli
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s21072461

Perceptual decision-making requires transforming sensory information into decisions. An ambiguity of sensory input affects perceptual decisions inducing specific time-frequency patterns on EEG (electroencephalogram) signals. This paper uses a wavelet-based method to analyze how ambiguity affects EEG features during a perceptual decision-making task. We observe that parietal and temporal beta-band wavelet power monotonically increases throughout the perceptual process. Ambiguity induces high frontal beta-band power at 0.3–0.6 s post-stimulus onset. It may reflect the increasing reliance on the top-down mechanisms to facilitate accumulating decision-relevant sensory features. Finally, this study analyzes the perceptual process using mixed within-trial and within-subject design. First, we found significant percept-related changes in each subject and then test their significance at the group level. Thus, observed beta-band biomarkers are pronounced in single EEG trials and may serve as control commands for brain-computer interface (BCI).