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Test-retest reliability of spectral parameterization by 1/f characterization using SpecParam

Test-retest reliability of spectral parameterization by 1/f characterization using SpecParam
Test-retest reliability of spectral parameterization by 1/f characterization using SpecParam

SpecParam (formally known as FOOOF) 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 of SpecParam as a tool to determine differences in measurements of cognitive function, and electroencephalography activity. We used intraclass correlation coefficients 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, eyes closed, and during three eyes closed cognitive tasks including subtraction (Math), music recall (Music), and episodic memory (Memory). Intraclass correlation coefficients were good for the aperiodic exponent and offset (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.70) and parameterized periodic activity (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.66 for alpha and beta power, central frequency, and bandwidth) across conditions. Across all three sessions, SpecParam performed poorly in eyes open (40% of participants had poor fits over non-central sites) and had poor test-retest reliability for parameterized periodic activity. SpecParam mostly provides reliable metrics of individual differences in parameterized neural activity. More work is needed to understand the suitability of eyes open resting data for parameterization using SpecParam.

aperiodic activity, EEG, FOOOF, oscillations, psychometrics
1047-3211
McKeown, Daniel J.
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Finley, Anna J.
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Kelley, Nicholas J.
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Cavanagh, James F.
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Keage, Hannah A.D.
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Baumann, Oliver
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Schinazi, Victor R.
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Moustafa, Ahmed A.
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Angus, Douglas J.
91f790ec-5741-4c83-9b6b-5f717f02ee84
McKeown, Daniel J.
9ac357b7-dfb4-4c7b-abea-9c4f8326fc07
Finley, Anna J.
d3c1981a-4b58-4797-980d-140ee0d2c5ba
Kelley, Nicholas J.
445e767b-ad9f-44f2-b2c6-d981482bb90b
Cavanagh, James F.
becb6856-8046-46ca-80e9-0443215a6e2d
Keage, Hannah A.D.
2a843bc9-a117-47ef-95d5-d78e1f1b5caa
Baumann, Oliver
73c9c566-36ae-4856-a321-5bfd4bcadef8
Schinazi, Victor R.
549fda68-f043-4493-ac43-34076d683372
Moustafa, Ahmed A.
70340b43-2551-42e3-a27e-7b8c1867653a
Angus, Douglas J.
91f790ec-5741-4c83-9b6b-5f717f02ee84

McKeown, Daniel J., Finley, Anna J., Kelley, Nicholas J., Cavanagh, James F., Keage, Hannah A.D., Baumann, Oliver, Schinazi, Victor R., Moustafa, Ahmed A. and Angus, Douglas J. (2023) Test-retest reliability of spectral parameterization by 1/f characterization using SpecParam. Cerebral Cortex, 34 (1), [bhad482]. (doi:10.1093/cercor/bhad482).

Record type: Article

Abstract

SpecParam (formally known as FOOOF) 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 of SpecParam as a tool to determine differences in measurements of cognitive function, and electroencephalography activity. We used intraclass correlation coefficients 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, eyes closed, and during three eyes closed cognitive tasks including subtraction (Math), music recall (Music), and episodic memory (Memory). Intraclass correlation coefficients were good for the aperiodic exponent and offset (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.70) and parameterized periodic activity (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.66 for alpha and beta power, central frequency, and bandwidth) across conditions. Across all three sessions, SpecParam performed poorly in eyes open (40% of participants had poor fits over non-central sites) and had poor test-retest reliability for parameterized periodic activity. SpecParam mostly provides reliable metrics of individual differences in parameterized neural activity. More work is needed to understand the suitability of eyes open resting data for parameterization using SpecParam.

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Accepted/In Press date: 27 November 2023
Published date: 14 December 2023
Keywords: aperiodic activity, EEG, FOOOF, oscillations, psychometrics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 503237
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503237
ISSN: 1047-3211
PURE UUID: 48307fff-e136-419a-8168-263695a60f7d
ORCID for Nicholas J. Kelley: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2256-0597

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Date deposited: 24 Jul 2025 17:04
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:27

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Contributors

Author: Daniel J. McKeown
Author: Anna J. Finley
Author: James F. Cavanagh
Author: Hannah A.D. Keage
Author: Oliver Baumann
Author: Victor R. Schinazi
Author: Ahmed A. Moustafa
Author: Douglas J. Angus

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