A study on EEG differences between active counting and focused breathing tasks for more sensitive detection of consciousness

Introduction: In studies on consciousness detection for patients with disorders of consciousness, difference comparison of EEG responses based on active and passive task modes is difficult to sensitively detect patients' consciousness, while a single potential analysis of EEG responses cannot comprehensively and accurately determine patients' consciousness status. Therefore, in this paper, we designed a new consciousness detection paradigm based on a multi-stage cognitive task that could induce a series of event-related potentials and ERD/ERS phenomena reflecting different consciousness contents. A simple and direct task of paying attention to breathing was designed, and a comprehensive evaluation of consciousness level was conducted using multi-feature joint analysis.

Methods: We recorded the EEG responses of 20 healthy subjects in three modes and reported the consciousness-related mean event-related potential amplitude, ERD/ERS phenomena, and the classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the EEG responses under different conditions.

Results: The results showed that the EEG responses of the subjects under different conditions were significantly different in the time domain and time-frequency domain. Compared with the passive mode, the amplitudes of the event-related potentials in the breathing mode were further reduced, and the theta-ERS and alpha-ERD phenomena in the frontal region were further weakened. The breathing mode showed greater distinguishability from the active mode in machine learning-based classification.

Discussion: By analyzing multiple features of EEG responses in different modes and stimuli, it is expected to achieve more sensitive and accurate consciousness detection. This study can provide a new idea for the design of consciousness detection methods.