Interpretation and Analysis of the Steady-State Neural Response to Complex Sequential Structures: a Methodological Note

TL;DR

This paper discusses how to interpret and analyze steady-state neural responses to complex sequences, addressing challenges in frequency tagging methods for understanding neural processing of structured sensory information.

Contribution

It provides a methodological framework for interpreting frequency-tagged neural responses to complex sequences, highlighting considerations for data analysis and proposing a safe analysis procedure.

Findings

Clarifies how to interpret the frequency of sequence structures

Identifies challenges in analyzing low-frequency neural responses

Recommends a safe procedure for frequency-tagged data analysis

Abstract

Frequency tagging is a powerful approach to investigate the neural processing of sensory features, and is recently adapted to study the neural correlates of superordinate structures, i.e., chunks, in complex sequences such as speech and music. The nesting of sequence structures, the necessity to control the periodicity in sensory features, and the low-frequency nature of sequence structures pose new challenges for data analysis and interpretation. Here, I discuss how to interpret the frequency of a sequential structure, and factors that need to be considered when analyzing the periodicity in a signal. Finally, a safe procedure is recommended for the analysis of frequency-tagged responses.