Role of Alpha Oscillations During Short Time Memory Task Investigated by Graph Based Partitioning

In this study, we investigate the clustering pattern of alpha band (8 Hz - 12 Hz) electroencephalogram (EEG) oscillations obtained from healthy individuals during a short time memory task with 3 different memory loads. The retention period during which subjects were asked to memorize a pattern in a square matrix is analyzed with a graph theoretical approach. The functional coupling among EEG electrodes are quantified via mutual information in the time-frequency plane. A spectral clustering algorithm followed by bootstrapping is used to parcellate memory related circuits and for identifying significant clusters in the brain. The main outcome of the study is that the size of the significant clusters formed by alpha oscillations decreases as the memory load increases. This finding corroborates the active inhibition hypothesis about alpha oscillations.