Entropy quantification of human brain spatio-temporal dynamics

We present a procedure to quantify spatio-temporal dynamics applied here to brain surface recordings during three distinct cognitive tasks. The method uses 19 sites of EEG recording as spatial embedding for the reconstruction of trajectories, global and local linear indices, and non-linear forecasting methods to quantify the global and local information loss of the dynamics (K-entropy). We show that K-entropy can differentiate between raw and multivariate phase random surrogate data in a significant percentage of EEG segments, and that relevant non-linear indices are best studied in time segments not longer than 4 s. We also find a certain complementarity between local non-linear and linear indices for the discrimination between the three cognitive tasks. Moreover, localized projections onto electrode site of K-entropy provide a new kind of brain mapping with functional significance.