Imaging alpha signal modulation using an ICA-based EEG inverse approach

Dynamic behaviors of coordinated neural activities often manifest themselves as large-scale modulations of rhythmic electrophysiological signals. Although such modulations are sometimes observable in human electroencephalography (EEG), it remains technically challenging to pinpoint the neural origins of EEG rhythmic modulations. In the present study, we propose to use a novel ICA-based spatiotemporal source imaging approach to image the neural activities that give rise to the modulation of alpha-band EEG signals during an eye-open-eye-closed task. The results indicate that the alpha signal modulation, due to the alternation between two resting states (i.e. eye-open vs. eye-closed), originates primarily from extended regions within the occipital and parietal lobes.