Evaluation of the modified S-transform for time-frequency synchrony analysis and source localisation

Abstract

This article considers the problem of phase synchrony and coherence analysis using a modified version of the S-transform, referred to here as the Modified S-transform (MST). This is a novel and important time-frequency approach to study the phase coupling between two or more different spatially recorded entities with non-stationary characteristics. The basic method includes a cross-spectral analysis to study the phase synchrony of non-stationary signals, and relies on some properties of the MST, such as phase preservation. We demonstrate the usefulness of the technique using simulated examples and real newborn EEG data. The results show the advantage of using the cross-MST in the study of the connectivity between different signals using the time-frequency coherence. The MST led to improvements in resolution of almost twofold over the standard S-Transform in the examples presented in the article.