Test-retest reliability of spectral parameterization by 1/fcharacterization usingSpecParam

Abstract

ABSTRACTSpecParam(formally known asFOOOF) allows for the refined measurements of electroencephalography periodic and aperiodic activity, and potentially provides a non-invasive measurement of excitation:inhibition balance. However, little is known about the psychometric properties of this technique. This is integral for understanding the usefulness ofSpecParamas a tool to determine differences in measurements of cognitive function, and electroencephalography activity. We used intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) to examine the test-retest reliability of parameterized activity across three sessions (90 minutes apart and 30 days later) in 49 healthy young adults at rest with eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC), and during three EC cognitive tasks including subtraction (Math), music recall (Music), and episodic memory (Memory). ICCs were good for the aperiodic exponent and offset (ICCs > .70) and parameterized periodic activity (ICCs > .66 for alpha and beta power, central frequency, and bandwidth) across conditions. Across all three sessions,SpecParamperformed poorly in EO (40% of participants had poor fits over non-central sites) and had poor test-retest reliability for parameterized periodic activity.SpecParammostly provides reliable metrics of individual differences in parameterized neural activity. More work is needed to understand the suitability of EO resting data for parameterization usingSpecParam.